Away From Home
by Andruindel
Summary: L x OC Amy is sucked into 'Death Note-land', where amazing adventures, and mass mayhem, ensue. Now all she has to do is learn how to get along with L.
1. Chapter 1

Explanation, Please

Away From Home

Chapter One

By Andruindel

I promised myself I wouldn't do this. But, I broke that promise. I was too bored to do anything else. . Yes, I've started a new story. I'm not going to commit myself to this one, yet. I just felt like putting up the first chapter. Cause I was bored… So, yeah, I hope you like it.

**Disclaimer: I own none of the characters from Death Note. I just kinda stole the plot and twisted it around a little to fit my crazy mind.**

--

What had started out as a normal day had become decidedly abnormal. I had woken to a sunny morning, with a light breeze. Normal. The day had progressed like any other day. Absolutely normal. I had jumped on the bus after school, also normal, and that was when the day became unusual. Someone sat beside me on the bus. And not just because they had to because it was the only seat left.

I'm not going to say I'm unpopular. I just don't make friends easily. And, alright I'll admit it; no one really knows my name. You could ask anyone in my school if they know Amy, and they would say: Who? That's just my lot in life: To be alone, simply because I won't talk to people voluntarily.

Yeah, my name's Amy. I'm a senior in High School, I've been going to the same school for years, and still no one knows me. The only reason my classmates acknowledge me is because they could _technically_ call me a teachers pet if they wanted to. I get good grades, and some would say I'm an over achiever. The teachers love me, and, hey, I'm not going to discourage that.

But, anyway, someone sat beside me on the bus home from school today. I recognized the guy from several of my classes. He offered me a smile, which I returned, and then turned his attention to the book in his hands. It was a manga. I was not a freak for anime or manga, but my friend had gotten me hooked on this specific one.

"Is that Death Note?" I asked, leaning over to get a better look. What? I didn't say I never talk to people. If I really have something to say, I'll say it, more often than not.

"Yes, it is."

I tilted my head at the boy's short answer. "I've only watched some of the anime. Are the books good?"

"They're great. I have the first book with me, if you'd like to read it." He fished the book out of his bag and handed it to me with another smile.

"Thank you," I accepted it, and flipped to the beginning of the book. It took me quite a long time to accustom myself with the reading of manga. However, once I had gotten the hang of it, I finished the book quite quickly. After all, the ride from school was quite a long one.

As I finished the first one, the boy offered me the second. As we read, the bus slowly emptied around us. I had one of the last stops, but I didn't mind. Unfortunately, my new friend had to get off before I did. But when I offered his book back, he declined.

"You can keep it; just remember to bring it to school tomorrow." He offered me a smile, and before I could thank him, he left the bus.

My stop came ten minutes later. By then I had nearly finished the manga the boy had leant me. I hefted by bag up over my shoulder as I stood, and made my way to the front of the bus. Very few people were still there, so I paid no attention to them as I passed.

Once off the bus, I carefully placed the manga into my book bag, and started on the short walk home. As I walked, my eyes wandered my surroundings. It was windy, but sunny, and an all-together nice day. My only regret was that I had spent most of it in school.

As though to make up for the things I had missed during the school day, a cat suddenly stalked across my path. I love cats, or anything fuzzy, really. So, I knelt down, and beckoned the kitty closer by clicking my tongue at it and holding my hand out to it. Seeing as I couldn't snap my fingers, even if I tried, that option was closed to me.

The cat, after sniffing in my direction a bit, turned and sauntered toward me. He was pure white, with only one black mark between his ears marring the pristine white coat. As he approached I stroked his back, listening as he purred thunderously. His coat was soft, and thick. He was so cute I did not want to go away.

Suddenly, a car sped by. The punk kid driving was blaring a song out the window. I caught a few of the words: _You will be the death of me. Yeah, you will be the death of me. Bury it, I won't let you bury it. _In the same instant, and before I realized what was going on, the cat dashed into the street. I love animals, and hate seeing them hurt. Because of that, I dashed into the street after the cat. It was more instinct than anything, and even to this day I do not know what on earth would have compelled me to leap into a busy street like that. But, the fact remains, I did it.

Before I could comprehend what was going on, I heard a screech of tires, and I knew I was going to be hit by a car. I froze, turning, as though in slow motion, to face the oncoming car. And then, a crushing blow from my right side sent me sprawling onto the side-walk. The quiet afternoon had suddenly exploded into noise. People were talking loudly, a car had just screeched to a halt not too far away, and someone was speaking to me.

As I fell, I had hit my head. The blow nearly knocked me out, but I had always been tough. Determined to find out what was going on, I forced myself to focus entirely on staying conscious. The babble of voices eventually became more subdued, especially when I forced myself into a sitting position.

Dazed and confused, I looked around. A car door slammed, and then a young man with black hair and dark eyes rushed to my side. Kneeling beside me, he began speaking hurriedly. "I'm so sorry! You just ran right in front of me! Are you okay?" He looked so familiar to me, I could only frown in confusion at him. Perhaps it was merely because I was so dazed, but I could have sworn I'd seen him somewhere before.

"I…. I think I'm okay." I said, bringing a hand to my head. My ribs were aching, I was pretty sure I had twisted my ankle, and my head felt like it was splitting in two. I started to stand, but the man who had apparently tackled me out of harm's way pushed me back down.

"You need to stay sitting, at least for a little bit." He said. "I used to be a doctor, and I think we need to get you into a hospital to get you checked out."

"I'll take her," The young man who had so nearly hit me, and looked so agonizingly familiar, offered. He seemed so genuinely concerned about me that the former doctor nodded.

I was in too much pain to argue. As the man turned back to me, he smiled. "My name is,"

Impulsively, I finished his sentence. "Matsuda…" Far too confused to really care what I was saying, I gazed in awe up at Matsuda. No wonder he had looked so familiar. He was my favorite character from Death Note!

Looking extremely disconcerted, Matsuda eyed me carefully before nodding. "But, how did you…?"

Realizing the importance of my words, I flushed and looked away. "Nametag," I muttered. To add effect, I lifted my hand to my head, hoping Matsuda would be so concerned he would forget my blunder. If I was truly seeing Matsuda, then either I was having a very elaborate dream, or I had somehow been pulled into his world. Probably due to my dazed state, I was not unduly worried by that revelation.

Still seeming unsettled, Matsuda gazed at me for a moment. "Well then, come on, I'll take you to the hospital."

Matsuda helped me to my feet. Grimacing, but determined to save face in the eyes of the onlookers, I forced myself to stand, if unsteadily, on my own. Somehow I managed to keep my feet as I took a few unsteady steps forward, with Matsuda's hand on my elbow, guiding me toward his car. The former doctor followed, giving Matsuda instructions.

"You have to keep her warm, for shock." He said. He had a hurried, annoying voice. It was as though he was nagging Matsuda into obedience. I had no doubt Matsuda would follow through on the man's instructions.

Even as the doctor spoke, someone draped a jacket over my shoulders. I pulled it closer about me, but before I could look around to thank whoever had contributed it, I found myself in Matsuda's car. I did not feel strong enough to protest, so I buckled up, and then leaned back in the seat, resting my head wearily against the head-rest and closing my eyes. My head was aching as though it were about to split in two. And now that the adrenaline that comes from almost being hit by a car was receding, I was dead-tired.

Matsuda got into the car on the driver's side, and then started the engine. The drive was silent, for I did not feel like speaking. Despite the jacket I was wearing, I was beginning to shiver. The shock of what had just recently happened to me was beginning to set in. That, coupled with the pain, was making my day miserable. I was too miserable even to enjoy Matsuda's company.

"Are you okay?" Matsuda asked eventually, after an especially violent shudder wracked my body.

Turning my head so I could see out the window, I shrugged. "Considering that I nearly got hit by a car, received a crushing blow to my ribs, as well as my skull, I'm feeling great." I replied, my voice dripping with slight sarcasm. Just to be sure Matsuda understood, I added a sentence. "Please note my slight sarcasm." I said bitterly.

Matsuda was smiling as he answered. I could hear it in his voice. "That sounded like complete sarcasm to me." He said.

Rolling my eyes, I turned slightly to face him. "That was slight sarcasm. If I were to use complete sarcasm, the world would implode." I replied. My tone was still bitter.

Matsuda's smile was completely unmistakable now. "Well, thank goodness for slight sarcasm." He said. Then he suddenly sobered up. "By the way, what's your name?"

"Amy," I replied at once. "And you don't need to know my last name, it would confuse you."

"Alright," Matsuda laughed, and I turned away from him, unsure if he was laughing at me, or merely laughing. "I suppose that's all I can ask for, Amy-chan." I liked the way he added the suffix to my name.

We were quiet for the rest of the drive. It really was not long, but by the time we reached the hospital, I was in a bad mood. A worse mood than I had previously been in. Matsuda was kind enough to open the car door for me, and offer to help me out. But I refused his offer, and exited the car myself. I then followed him, limping slightly, into the building, keeping a sharp eye on my surroundings. I hated being anywhere I did not know, especially when I could have been considered a weak target. Matsuda's presence was not very reassuring either.

As a sudden thought struck my fuzzy mind, my steps faltered. "Matsuda-san, where are we?" I asked. Having quickly adapted to the Japanese suffixes, I liked using them. Of course, some of them I was not completely sure of the meaning.

Matsuda gave me a side-long glance. "We're at the hospital, Amy-chan." He said. It sounded as though he thought I was slightly insane.

"I know that." I rolled my eyes. "What I meant was: Are we in Tokyo?"

Again Matsuda gave me a look that asked whether or not I was confused. "Yes, we are."

I only gave Matsuda a 'hmm' in response. The hospital doors slid open, granting us entrance, and we stepped inside. How long we sat there, waiting for a doctor, I don't know. But it was long enough for my head-ache to recede into a dull throb, and my body to begin shutting down on me. I really needed a place to crash.

Finally, I was allowed to see a doctor. She was nice, but she smiled too much. She didn't tell me anything I hadn't already known, either. I'd hit my head rather badly, as well as sprained my ankle, and received some bad bruises in my rib area. As long as I took it easy on my foot, I would be fine in a couple of days. Joy.

The woman accompanied me as I went back to find Matsuda. I was half afraid he might have just gone and left me. I certainly didn't want to be left alone in a place like Tokyo, while I was injured, and had no idea where I was. But, my fears were ungrounded, for Matsuda was still there, waiting for me. As I collapsed into a chair, the doctor took Matsuda aside and spoke to him in lowered tones. I could only catch a few words of their conversation.

"She yours?"

"No."

"Car accident."

What I could hear of their conversation made little sense. So soon I simply toned out their words, and let my eyes drop closed.

"Amy-chan," I opened my eyes and glared up at Matsuda. "Do you have any family I could call?"

I hesitated, swallowing. "Uhmm… No. I was kind of dumped here with no where to go…" It wasn't a complete lie. I did have no where to go.

I could see Matsuda's brain working furiously. "Well, I think I know a place you can stay, at least for a little while."

A smile, or at least an attempt at a smile, crossed my face, and I struggled to my feet. "Great, thanks, Matsuda-san."

Following Matsuda back to the car, and still limping, I let my eyes wander my surroundings. I couldn't help wondering where I was going to stay. If it was with Matsuda, I would be happy. Because Matsuda's just awesome like that. But, then again, he might make me stay with Light, or someone like that. And I definitely did not want that.

The car ride home was silent, as I was half-asleep, and dropping quickly into full slumber. The jacket around me was warm and several sizes too big for me. It covered my hands.

When finally we reached our destination, I raised my eyes to look up at the huge building. It had to have been at least 20 stories tall! Hopefully we wouldn't have to climb all those stairs to get to our destination.

The building, a hotel I saw as we entered, was nice, and fancy. Matsuda and I hardly looked like we belonged there. But, Matsuda seemed used to that fact. He led me to the elevator, and pushed the up button. As the doors slid open, and Matsuda stepped into the elevator, I hesitated. Enclosed spaces, especially when they were moving underneath me, made me nervous.

But, I had to get in, so I did so, reluctantly.

I stood in a corner of the elevator, my arms folded, and shivering slightly. My head rested against the wall, and I closed my eyes, almost too exhausted to be nervous. But I was incredibly nervous. If we were in a fancy hotel, there was only one place we could be going.

We were going to see L.

My heart beat faster at the very mention. L was hot.

On the twenty something floor, the elevator stopped, and we got out. I followed Matsuda down a long hallway and to a door. There I waited for him to fish his key out of his pocket, and let us in. I hesitated in the doorway, but finally followed.

I was going to see L. Face to face.

--

Well… That was fun, wasn't it? xD

For those of you who guessed that the Amy in this story is me, good job! You get two thumbs up! Yes, Amy is me, in a sense. And almost everything she does I have done, or would do if I was put into the right situation. Like the conversation she had with Matsu about 'slight sarcasm'. I actually had that conversation, word for word, with one of my friends.

Anyway, thanks for reading, don't kill me for starting a new story, and I'll try to continue with some of the stories I've let collect dust.

Also, the lyrics Amy hears from the car that goes speeding past are from Time Is Running Out, by Muse.


	2. Chapter 2

"Matsuda, I thought I told you not to bring girls into the hotel any more

Away From Home

Chapter Two

By Andruindel

--

"Matsuda, I thought I told you not to bring girls into the hotel any more."

I flushed scarlet at the words, but couldn't lift my eyes from the floor. Matsuda stuttered an explanation, and I simply bit my lip, waiting to hear my fate. I knew that L was standing barely three feet in front of me. That was why I couldn't lift my eyes. I didn't want to meet his gaze.

"Very well, she can stay. For now." L relented, only after Matsuda had explained my situation.

Relieved, I lifted my eyes to his face, about to thank him. But Matsuda put his hand on my elbow and led me quickly away. All I could do was follow at a fast limp.

Ten minutes later I was back in front of L. I had my eyes on the floor again, my hands clasped before me. Matsuda stood slightly behind me, watching L's face.

After Matsuda had introduced us, L, or Ryuuzaki got right to the point.

"So, you have no where to stay, Amy-chan?" He asked.

I shook my head. "I was… just kind of dumped here on my own." I replied slowly, hesitating just a bit. "Thank you for allowing me to stay, by the way."

Ryuuzaki said nothing in reply to my thanks. Instead, his eyes traveled slowly over me. I wouldn't meet his gaze, I was trembling, and I was blushing. Of all the awkward positions to be in, this was the worst. He would think I was some sort of… girl or something.

In an attempt to save face, I raised my eyes to his. I immediately wished I had not. He was so much hotter in real life. I blushed again, but met his gaze evenly, lifting my chin slightly. I was determined not to look scared, or shy. Good luck on that one, Amy.

"I see…" L said quietly. "Well, seeing as we're busy, I must ask you to go back to your room for now." He dismissed me with a wave of his hand, and left to sit at his computer. I flushed. It was like I hardly existed to L. Ryuuzaki, I mean. I would have to try hard not to call him L, I realized suddenly.

"Don't worry, Amy." Matsuda said as he led me back toward the room I had been offered. "He's not always like that. I'm sure you'll be fine."

"I hope I won't be an inconvenience.…" I said quietly.

Matsuda smiled. "No, you won't be." He replied. Then he left me in my room, to go back to work.

I sat gingerly on the edge of the bed, staring around the room. It was empty except for the bed, and a dresser. My mind wandered to my predicament. I was stuck in… Death Note land, for lack of a better name. I had only the clothes I was wearing, and my cell phone. Exhausted, both from the mental strain of trying to figure things out, and the physical strain of nearly getting run over, I stretched out on the bed, clutching a pillow to my stomach, and closing my eyes. Before I knew it, I was asleep.

--

Several hours later I opened my eyes. How long I had been awake, or if I had been awake before that instant at all, I wasn't sure. At first I didn't know where I was. I sat up slowing, gazing around. Sleepy, and cramped from the position I had fallen asleep in, I stretched. Falling asleep in the middle of the day often did more bad than good. But, at least my head had stopped hurting.

I turned as someone knocked on my door. Running a hand through my hair, I winced as my fingers encountered tangles. I opened the door slowly, peering cautiously around it. My eyes met those of L, and I blinked once.

"Watari just brought dinner, if you want some."

Before I could even react to his words, L was gone down the hall. I blinked once, twice, three times, and then I closed the door, and strode to the mirror above my dresser. My hair was a mess. And without a brush, it was a hopeless case. I could only take the hair tie I always kept on my left wrist, and pull my hair into a pony tail.

With my hair at least some-what presentable, I opened the door and limped as quietly as possible toward the work room. Peering around the corner, I spied L sitting in a large arm-chair, and an older man sitting on the couch. They were eating pizza. I raised one eyebrow.

"Do you always eat like this?" I asked as I stepped further into the room.

L hardly glanced at me. "Yes." He replied in a low voice.

I raised an eyebrow again, but said nothing as I sat down on the other couch, across from Watari, and with L on my left. Watari offered me a slice of pizza. I accepted, although I was not really hungry. I was too nervous to eat much, what with L staring at me.

"So tell me, Amy, how old are you?"

I gulped, swallowing the bite of pizza I'd just taken. "I'm seventeen." I replied. "But I'll be eighteen in a few months." I tilted my head to one side, giving L as calculating a look as I could summon onto my face. "How old are you, Ryuuzaki-san?"

L didn't answer. Instead, he asked another question. "You are from America, am I correct?"

"Yes." I answered hesitantly. What was with all the questions?

"Where is your family?"

"I don't know."

"How did you get here?"

"I don't know."

"You don't know how you got here?"

"That's what I just said, isn't it?"

I frowned, staring hard at the pizza I no longer wanted to eat. I missed my family and friends. And I missed my own home, and I even missed my loud, annoying, obnoxious neighbors. I just wanted to be home, where I didn't have to answer stupid questions.

"That could be quite a problem…" L said, as though to himself. And then he looked up at me again. I met his eyes, and wished I had not. Once he had me in his gaze, I was unable to escape. I could only look him in the eye, lifting my chin defiantly and frowning slightly.

"Thank you for allowing me to stay, Ryuuzaki." I said firmly. "I really appreciate your hospitality." I glanced once at the pizza, and then looked back at L. "But, before I forget to mention, there are a few things I need to…point out." I almost lost my nerve at this point, as L glared silently at me. But I lifted my chin higher, and continued. "I'm going to need clothes, as well as other things. Before I stay here, I think we need to establish an agreement of sorts."

"Please, continue," L said as I paused to gather my thoughts.

I flushed, annoyed, but continued. As I spoke, I noticed that I was using much bigger words than I would normally have. My defensive state of mind had put me into a… much more formal mode of speech that I usually used.

"I was thinking that in return for your hospitality, I will do whatever chores there are to be done around here, washing dishes, laundry and things like that. But, in addition to providing me with a home, I ask that you provide me with food, clothes, and any other necessities I might require."

L nodded. "That sounds reasonable."

I allowed myself a tight-lipped smile. "In that case, the first thing I'm going to need is clothing."

I thought I saw L's eyes flash with annoyance, but I couldn't be certain. "Very well." L replied.

Satisfied, I stood. "Thank you for dinner. I'm going to bed."

I limped back down the hall to my bed, annoyed with L, though I hardly knew why. I hadn't realized he would be such a jerk. The way he looked at me, if he looked at me at all, made me feel like an inferior being. It was infuriating, and I was already tired of it.

I paused in my doorway, hesitating. But then I went inside, closing the door, and crawled into the bed.

My room was huge, and empty. I had never had such a huge, empty, lonely room. Plus, my bed was in the middle of the room. There was darkness all around me, and I had no wall to put my back to. Determined to be brave in the face of darkness, I closed my eyes, clutching one of many pillows to my stomach. I had lied before. The first thing I needed was not clothing. It was companionship; something to keep me company in the long hours of the night.

--

Well, here's chapter two. I told myself I wouldn't commit to this story yet, but it's the only one I really like at the time. Plus, I've got a whole eight chapters written, and I'm working on the ninth. So, I figured I might as well have updated. Besides, it seems like people like it so far. Sorry if this chapter was a bit short, and.. nothing really important happened. I promise we'll have some fun in the next chapter. ;) Thanks for reading, and please review!


	3. Chapter 3

Away From Home

Chapter Three

By Andruindel

--

Morning came accompanied by bright sunlight, and the sound of footsteps passing by outside my door. I rolled over, pulling the covers over my head. I hoped fervently that I had just been having a very, very vivid dream. But as I lifted my head out of the covers, and looked around, I realized I had not been. I was still in the large hotel room where I had fallen asleep the night before. For the first time since I'd gotten there, I felt the complete impact of what had happened to me. I was in a completely different dimension.

Before I could stop them, tears started. And once they started, I could do nothing to stop the flow. I lay in bed, hugging a pillow and crying quietly. I missed my family, and I missed my friends. I just wanted to go home. I hadn't realized until then how much I appreciated my family. Even if I did have three older brothers, plus a younger brother and sister, all of whom thought me mentally unstable, I still loved them. I hadn't realized this until that moment.

I don't know how long I cried, but by the time my tears subsided, I had made up my mind. I was not going to spend my time moping around, wishing I was home. I was going to enjoy every minute of my stay with L, because I had no idea when I was going to get home. Heck, I could disappear and be back home any minute now.

That thought spurred me into action, and I leaped out of bed. My clothes were wrinkled, and my hair was rumpled. I let my mind wander, thinking over my predicament. L had long hair. With hair that length, he had to have a hair brush. I let a smile of evil proportions cross my face. L wouldn't mind if I stole his hair brush for a few minutes.

My door made no noise as I opened it, and peered outside. L was no where to be seen. Just to make sure, I sneaked down the hall, and looked into the work room. L was there, at his computer. Pleased, I made my way back down the hall, limping, to L's room.

Finding L's hairbrush was no problem. He kept it on his dresser. Smiling, I brushed out my hair, and pulled it back into a pony tail. On an impulse, I opened the dresser drawer, and flinched at the sight. It was full of white T-shirts and jeans. L really needed a change of wardrobe. I did too, at the moment. And anything was better than the tank top I'd been wearing for a day and a night.

Minutes later I left L's room, wearing one of his shirts. I let a smirk cross my face, but quickly hid it as I limped through the work room and into the kitchen. I knew L had seen me, had sensed his gaze on me, but I said nothing. I was hungry, and I knew there was bound to be some pizza left over from the night before.

I had been right, of course. There were several slices of pizza left. As I looked at them, I realized how hungry I really was. I hadn't eaten since lunch the day before. In the time it took for me to heat up the pizza, and put it on a plate, my stomach was beginning to growl.

"Amy-chan, did you want to go shopping today?"

I whirled around, my heart in my throat as L addressed me from the kitchen door. Ashamed of being startled by such a low voice, I flushed and turned away.

"Yes, I did…" I said slowly.

L turned in the doorway. "As soon as you're done eating, we'll go." He called over his shoulder as he left the kitchen.

I frowned. Shopping with L. This was going to be interesting.

--

Shopping with L did prove to be quite an interesting venture. We were silent as Watari drove us to the closest mall. I sat as far away from L as was possible, gazing out the window. Even with almost an entire car between us, I was too close to L. I could feel his eyes on me at random moments, could feel every move he made as he shifted in his seat. How was I going to survive walking through the mall with him?

The first store I saw was a toy store. I headed straight for it, with L trailing behind me.

"I thought you said you needed clothing," L said doubtfully, stopping just outside the store.

I turned, placing my hands on my hips, and giving him an annoyed look. "I do." I said shortly. "But this is more important." I gave him a glare, to ensure he understood just how important this was, and then I turned and wandered into the store. I was searching for something, even though I wasn't completely sure what.

Finally, I found it. I came to a complete stop, staring at a shelf packed full of teddy bears. A smile crossed my face, and I went forward, carefully picking one up. He was tan, and soft, and he wore a bear-ish smile on his face. I squeezed him.

"This is what was important?" L asked from behind me, his voice right at my ear.

"Yes." I said, turning to him.

"Please, Amy, be serious."

"I am." I frowned, pulling my bear close. "I need _something_ to sleep with." I snapped, exasperated. "You have no idea how much trouble I had getting to sleep last night, because I didn't have a stuffed animal."

L cast around, looking at the other shelves. "Why not this one?" He asked, grasping a stuffed snake. It was hideous. I raised one incredulous eyebrow. That answer seemed to be enough for L, for he put the snake down, and sighed in resignation.

"Very well," He said slowly.

Pleased, I hugged the bear. "Thank you, Ryuuzaki-san." I chirped.

Minutes after that I was walking out of the store, clutching a bag, which held my bear. I would have taken it out, but I was afraid of looking even more like a child in front of L. So I let the bear remain in the bag, pondering over a name for him. I had already decided that he was a boy.

"Let's go in here," I said, indicating a clothing store. I was actually taking a sort of malicious pleasure in shopping with L. I could take all the time I wanted, torturing him with the dull activity of clothes shopping. Plus, I could always see what he thought of my outfits. Not that his opinion would give me much to go on. If he gave me an opinion at all.

It would have been much better if I had been the kind of girl to wear… revealing clothing. I could have tried to get L to squirm. But, as it was, I much preferred T-shirts to spaghetti straps.

Soon enough I had chosen enough outfits to last me a while. Most of them were T-shirts, but I had several nice blouses, and jeans, as well as a skort, and one skirt. I also had one hoodie, several sizes too big, and black. I loved how deep the hood was. Along with that I had purchased some under garments, and some camisoles to wear under my blouses. By the time I was done shopping, L was slouched even more than usual, and he looked half-asleep. I smiled to myself as I watched him carrying more than half of the bags.

Watari was waiting outside to pick us up. I slipped into the car, and waited until L had put all the bags, except the one holding my bear, into the trunk. As soon as L was in the car, Watari drove slowly away. No one spoke for a while. The only sound was that of the bag rustling as I pulled my bear out, and hugged him.

"I think I'm going to name him Panda." I said after a bit, glancing at L. I did not tell him that I was secretly naming the bear after him. L reminded me of a panda, because of the bags under his eyes.

L made no comment.

For the rest of the ride, we were silent.

--

"Matsuda-san, guess what I got!"

I bounced into the work room the next day, bright as a daisy, and anxious to show Matsuda my newest friend.

"I'm guessing it's a bear," Matsuda said, eyeing my bear with amusement.

"Yup." I smiled up at him. "His name's Panda." I squeezed the bear, pleased that at least Matsuda took some notice of me. I had a feeling L didn't like me that much.

I fell into silence as L entered the room, staring at him with my head tilted to one side, a thoughtful frown on my face. Matsuda followed my gaze, and a smile spread across his face.

"How are you and Ryuuzaki getting along?" He asked, quietly, as though he knew I didn't want L hearing my answer.

I shrugged. "I dunno." I said, glancing back at Matsuda, and then lifting my eyes to L again. He had completely ignored me as he passed, but had greeted Matsuda, and Chief Yagami. I bit my bottom lip, unsure what I had done to merit L's inattention.

Matsuda laughed. "Don't worry, Amy. I'm sure he likes you. I think it's just going to take some time for him to get used to having you around." He winked, and then he went off to work.

I hesitated, unsure whether or not L wanted me around. With a shrug of my shoulders, I stalked to a corner I had recently discovered in the work room. On my discovery, I had claimed the corner as my own. It was a corner where I could sit and watch the entire room, while at the same time having my back to a wall. I could sit there quietly, and comfortably.

As I sat down, I pulled my hood up, reveling in the shadow it cast over my face. I knew that now no one could see my face. But at the same time I could see all of them.

"Amy, do you have to sit there staring at me?" Matsuda asked after a minute, twisting around on the couch to face me.

I smirked under my hood. "Sorry Matsuda…" I said softly. I hugged my bear, and lowered my head, sighing. If this was to be my life, sitting in a corner watching a bunch of older men work, I was in for a boring time…

--

Well… There you have chapter three. I'm not liking this as much as I had thought. TTTT But apparently everyone else likes it. I've already gotten 19 reviews, for only two chapters! I'm writing chapter ten right now, so expect the next chapter in roughly a week. If I keep going the way I am, I'm hoping I can finish before I catch up with myself, and then continue updating every week! Anyway, thanks for reading, and please review!


	4. Chapter 4

Away From Home

Chapter Four

By Andruindel

--

I had been in the hotel for a week straight. L simply refused to let me out. No matter how much I begged and pleaded with him, he would not let me out. So, I took to sitting for hours on end on the window seat, looking down at the ground, several stories down. I spent so long on the window seat, I actually got a sun burn, through the window! Talk about weird. Or, just long amounts of sun exposure.

Finally, I asked L about it. I caught him on a day when none of the other task force members were there yet. According to L, they wouldn't be there for several hours.

"You are not allowed outside because one: we are not in an area of town where a young girl should be wandering by herself. And two: there is a slight possibility that you are Kira."

I blinked once, twice, three times, and one last time for good measure. "What?!"

"You heard correctly, Amy-chan."

I flushed angrily. Why on earth would they think I was Kira? And then my mind flew to the first few moments after I had arrived in Death Note land. I had known Matsuda's name. And he had not been wearing his correct nametag.

"You think I'm Kira." I said slowly, blinking again. I couldn't think of anything else to say. "Why?"

L tilted his head to one side. "There is only a slight chance that you are Kira. The only reason I think you are is because you knew Mr. Matsuda's real name, even though he was currently wearing a nametag bearing his alias."

I lowered my head, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly. What was I supposed to say in a situation like this? "Well, this is great." I snapped angrily. "This is just perfect. I'm going this way." I pulled my hood up over my head, hiding my flushed face from L, and stalking away to my room.

Unable to relax, I paced circles in my room, my hands in the pockets of my hoodie. I was in an unmistakably dark mood. L thought I might be Kira… And that meant the rest of the task force was probably wary of me as well. Did that mean Matsuda's kindness had been false?

After what seemed hours, I came to a decision. I couldn't stay in a place where I was suspected of being a mass murderer. Of course I knew all about the Kira case. Not only had I watched the anime, but I had heard the others talking about it.

For a moment I stood undecided in the middle of my floor. I bit my bottom lip, and looked from the door to the window. I was too high up to escape that way. I would have to make it out the front door. With a deep breath, I acted, opening my door quietly. I was not going to take anything with me but the clothes I wore. What was I supposed to take? I hardly owned anything anymore.

L was no where to be seen. This confused me, for he had just been in the work room, hard at work. Where he was now, who knew?

At least his absence provided the perfect opportunity of escape for me.

The front door made no noise as I opened it, which I was thankful for. If L was anywhere in the building, he would hear it, and know that I was leaving. That would not be good, seeing as it would ruin my plans for the day. I was going to get out of there, and find my own way in the world.

Once I was out of the hotel room, I shunned the elevator, choosing to take the stairs. Elevators made me uncomfortable. And besides, it was the obvious route to take, so L would expect me to be in the elevator. Taking the stairs meant wasting time, but it was worth it if it meant getting away.

It took me much longer to walk down all those stairs than I had thought. Worse than the time it took was the fact that the ankle I had twisted the week before was acting up. By the time I reached the bottom, I was limping painfully, and almost wishing I was back in the hotel.

But once I reached the out doors, all my doubts were banished. It was so nice to be outside again that I couldn't prevent the smile that crossed my face. The sky was blue, the sun was shining, and I was free. There was nothing to stop me from doing whatever I wanted. The only problem was: I had no idea where I was.

Or where I was going, for that matter.

Choosing a random direction, I started walking, my head up and my eyes wandering my surroundings. I was free. Finally, finally, free! Now I didn't have to put up with L's stares, and the fact that he practically ignored me all the time. But, I would miss Matsuda, a bit. He was the only one I really liked. In all truth, I was a bit disappointed in L. He was way different than I had often imagined.

Unfortunately for me, L was smarter than I had anticipated. Before I had even walked two blocks, I became aware of someone's gaze on me. Glancing over my shoulder, I saw L following me at a distance. He had actually ventured out of the hotel to get me? Surprised, but determined to get away, I sped my pace up, until I was at a fast walk.

No matter how fast I walked, L stayed on my tail. Even when I took several sharp turns I didn't lose him. Frustrated and angry, I finally broke into a run. Apparently that's what L had been waiting for. I was running hard, and feeling confident in the fact that I was going to escape when I was tackled from behind.

"Ow!" Twisting around, I found myself face-to-face with L. And I mean literally nose-to-nose, with barely fractions of an inch between our faces. Sore and angry, I frowned. "L what are you doing?!"

Too late I snapped my mouth shut. I wasn't supposed to know who L was. The damage was done, though. I saw L's eyes widen slightly, and then a completely blank look came over his face.

"The chances of your being Kira are now at thirty percent."

--

Well... Here's chapter Four. I know, it's short. But, that's fine, right? No one's going to kill me for putting up a short chapter. -sweatdrop- Anyways... Thanks for all the reviews I've recieved so far! I'm glad you all like this story so much. Expect the next chapter in a week or so. Until then, farewell, thank you for reading, and continue with the reviews! They make me happy.


	5. Chapter 5

Away From Home

Chapter Five

By Andruindel

--

"I'm not going back with you."

My stark refusal to go back to the hotel with L was not met with enthusiasm. L had long since let me up, and I had dusted myself down. But I was not going to go back with L.

L apparently had other ideas. Without a word he hefted me up and over his shoulder. Shocked and defiant, I beat L hard in the back with my fists, but he wouldn't let go.

"Let me go! Stop!" I cried, but to no avail. All the way home I beat at L, but he just kept walking, his head lowered and his back hunched. I was going back with him, whether I liked it or not.

Although people stopped and stared at me and L as we went down the sidewalk, I was not really bothered. I just wanted to get down and run until I could no longer run. It was only when we got to the hotel and I heard a familiar voice ask "What's going on?" that I realized just how weird the situation I was in really was.

To my surprise, L said nothing in reply to Matsuda's question. I could almost literally feel him simmering with resentment, but he remained silent. That was almost twice as embarrassing, because it left Matsuda to guess what was going on. I felt my face heat up, and finally stopped struggling, hanging limply over L's shoulder.

L didn't put me down until we had gotten into the elevator. When he did finally put me down, I positioned myself in a corner of the elevator, tense because I hated enclosed spaces, and with my eyes downcast. I refused to look up at either L or Matsuda, and I felt at that moment that I hated both of them equally. But I was just angry. Boiling with resentment, defiance and frustration, I frowned at the elevator floor, determined to say nothing.

When the time came to exit the elevator, I almost didn't. I held back, still refusing to look at either of the two men. But L's hand came to my elbow, and he led me, gently yet firmly, out of the elevator and into the hotel room. I had no choice but to follow. He was way too strong for me. And besides, I had no where to go.

"Sit down, Amy."

"No."

I finally lifted my eyes off the floor, but gazed at a point just to the right of L's head. I was angry, and hurt, and embarrassed. L had no right to keep me here against my will. If he hadn't already been working with the Japanese police, I would have called them and anonymously tipped them off about a certain young woman who was being held prisoner.

Though I wasn't looking directly at L, I saw him blink slowly once. "Please sit down, Amy."

"No." I said stubbornly. I was not going to do what L said. I didn't want to be lectured; I didn't want to hear why he thought I was Kira. I didn't want to look at him.

"Amy," I heard the warning in his voice, but did not heed it.

"Just shut up, L." I snarled, and I dashed for my room.

Behind me I heard Matsuda's exclamation of surprise, and then L's calm voice. It was still as though I meant absolutely nothing to him. Wasn't he even angry I had run away? Wasn't he shocked that I knew who he was?

Closing and locking my door in case L, or more likely Matsuda, decided to follow me, I threw myself down on my bed, pulling Panda into my arms. I felt like Panda was the only one who understood me. He was the only one who would listen when I talked, or offer me comfort. Without really knowing why, I hated L for remaining so calm, and for thinking that I was Kira. I understood why he thought that, sure. But it hurt to think that he didn't trust me.

I had only been in my room for a short time before someone knocked.

"Go away." I called, my words muffled by Panda, for I had buried my face in his soft fur.

The knocking persisted.

"Leave me alone!"

I actually sat up this time, glaring angrily at the door.

But whoever it was just kept knocking, each knock becoming louder than the last.

"What do you want?!" I finally shouted.

"Uh, Amy-chan, uh, L wants to see you…"

I could almost see Matsuda sweat-dropping like in the anime. The hesitance in his words was enough to make me take pity on him, and go to the door. I opened it slowly, peering around it at Matsuda.

"Alright, fine, I'll go talk to L." I said, losing all my defiance in the face of Matsuda's plight. He was obviously uncomfortable.

Apparently relieved, Matsuda led me back to the work room. Chief Yagami and the other task force members were there. I glanced once at each of them, and then I moved to my customary corner, sitting down and pulling my hood over my head, hiding my burning face.

For several minutes no one spoke. L sat at his computer, staring at the screen. I could almost feel apprehensiveness simmering in the air. I kept my eyes on the floor, half-closed. An expression, half of disdain and half of uncaring was on my face. I had to work hard to keep it there.

Eventually L spoke. "As you all know, there is a slight chance that Amy is Kira."

I didn't glance up at him. I knew he wouldn't be looking at me.

L went on. "That chance was doubled twice today, when I discovered that Amy knows that I am L."

There was a collective murmur around the room, and I actually lifted my eyes off the floor to look at the men. Matsuda was looking at L, while the others were looking at me. My eyes darkened, and I turned my head again, lifting my chin defiantly.

"Due to this…unfortunate change of circumstances, I think it wise to keep Amy under constant surveillance. To ensure this, cameras will be put on her room, and she will be unable to leave this hotel, until all chances that she is Kira are erased."

I wasn't quite sure how to react to that. Inside I was mentally bashing L's face in, and I was boiling with resentment. But, I merely turned my head away. "Whatever." Was the first reply that popped into my head.

I heard Matsuda mutter something, and glanced once at him. I was still angry, and hurt. But when I stood up, and went to leave, L stopped me.

"You need to stay here, Amy." He said softly. "Watari will be here soon, with the means to ensure you do not leave the hotel."

I flushed angrily, but sat back down. He was treating my like a child. I was hurt, and angry, and I wanted nothing more than to punch a hole in a wall. But I couldn't. So I sat silently, listening as the men worked, letting my anger simmer, and resenting L.

When Watari finally entered, I was half-asleep. I came into reality suddenly, looking around, and unsure exactly what I had missed. I blinked once or twice, trying to wake up all the way, and that's when I realized that everyone in the room was looking at me. Blushing, I lowered my head, closing my eyes again. I didn't want to deal with anything at the moment.

"Amy," I fixed narrowed eyes on L as he spoke to me. I was relatively sure he couldn't see my whole face. I felt more intimidating and menacing that way. Of course, it was hard to match L's intimidating nature. I tried my hardest, and failed miserably when I met L's eyes, and had to look away. "Come here."

I could not even try to disobey. With slow, reluctant movements, I forced myself to stand up, and approach L. It was like I was going to my execution or something. And I hadn't even gotten a last meal…

"Sit down."

I did as I was told, sitting on the couch next to Matsuda. Gazing mistrustfully at L, I tilted my head a bit to one side, watching as he picked up a small circle of metal. I was confused, to say the least, but my confusion quickly dropped to anger when I realized what L was going to do. He was going to put that thing on my ankle, and if I so much as stepped outside the hotel room door, an alarm would go off, or else I would get shocked… Either one was pretty humiliating.

As L approached me with the device, I freaked. I was not about to let L subject me to that kind of mental, or emotional, torture. I jumped up and fled to the other side of the room, knocking the device out of L's hands as I went. I knew my actions would get me into trouble, but I hadn't stopped to think. Speaking of that, when did I ever really stop to think?

L followed me, faster than I had anticipated, and as he approached me again, I only had time for one disjointed thought before I struck out at him, catching him in the face. Though I knew the blow could not have hurt much, seeing as I had not had a lot of force behind it, it must have caught L by surprise, for he stumbled back. That was when all hell broke loose. Both Chief Yagami and Mogi came forward. I backed away from them, fearing for my life, only to bump into someone. I tilted my chin up to see that it was Matsuda. Too late, I tried to escape, but he already had a grasp on me. I was stuck.

I could only watch, helpless, as L attached the device to my ankle. I kicked him once, and then Chief Yagami had to grab my feet to keep me from doing it again. It was a completely awkward and humiliating position. When finally L got it on me, I was let go, and I fled, reduced to tears of embarrassment, to my room. There I found Panda, and curled up with him to cry in peace. No one bothered me for the rest of the day.

--

Poor Amy… Heh… I'm not _really _pleased with this chapter. But at least it made me laugh. Hopefully you all liked it too. Thanks for reading, and thank you, most sincerely, for all the reviews I have received so far. I hope to continue getting tons of good reviews from you all.


	6. Chapter 6

Away From Home

Chapter Six

By Andruindel

--

The next morning I woke with a sense of bitter resentment remaining from the day before. I sat up in bed, glowering at the opposite wall, and pulled my knees to my chest. Panda was no where to be seen, so soon enough I moved to the edge of the bed and looked down, and sure enough, he was on the floor, staring reproachfully up at me.

"Be quiet, Panda." I hissed softly at the bear. I picked him up, and hugged him tightly before setting him down and getting out of bed. Seeing as I had not eaten dinner the night before, I was hungry.

The first thing I noticed as I stepped out of my room was that it was darker than it usually would have been at seven-thirty a.m. The second thing I noticed, just as I stepped into the work room, was that it was raining. That explained the darkness. I let a grim smile slide over my features, and wandered toward the window, where my favorite seat was. Any thought of food had been washed from my mind.

Now that I had seen the rain, I wasn't willing to be pulled away from the window. So, I sat myself down, and watched as the water fell, sliding in liquid diamonds down the window pane. The day echoed my mood, for I felt like crying at the moment. But I let the skies cry in my stead, and merely watched, feeling the peace that comes after a good cry washing over me. I had regained at least a little happiness, at the sky's expense.

Eventually, I heard footsteps approaching, and turned slightly to look at L. Our eyes met, and he blinked once before continuing on his way to his computer. Though neither one of us spoke, I felt that we had come to an understanding, of sorts. He was not going to bother me, as long as I gave him no reason to. And I wasn't in the mood to bother him, knowing that he was bound to be annoyed with me. The bruise forming under his left eye was proof that I had actually kicked him harder than I'd thought the day before. That fact was bound to have put him in a bad mood.

For a while I simply sat on the window seat, watching the rain. And then I was gripped by the desire to do something completely random. With a smile crossing my face, I stood and dashed from the room, searching for…. A stick. To my surprise, actually, I found a long dowel in the kitchen. What it was doing there, I had no idea. The next thing to find was some string.

When I had finally found a good replacement for string, ribbon, I went back to the workroom, seating myself back on the window seat, and began tying the ribbon to one end of the stick. I smiled at the finished piece, and opened the window.

"What are you doing, Amy?" L asked, swiveling in his chair to look at me.

I crossed my legs as I sat on the windowsill, with the stick out the window, and the ribbon dangling down for about ten feet, until it met its end in nothingness. "I'm fishing." I replied quietly. "Be quiet."

I could feel L's incredulous stare on my back, and then he turned away again. I smiled. It may have been random, but it was something I'd always enjoyed doing. Fishing, whether it be in a puddle, or even out of a window on the twenty something floor of a hotel, was something I liked to do. It was calming, even if I had no chance of catching anything. I liked it.

Even though I enjoyed fishing for nothing, it was raining outside, and soon I grew cold. But, unwilling to give up the pleasure of fishing, I merely sat there shivering, until, almost an hour later, I could stand neither the cold nor the silence any longer. Pulling my ribbon back up, I sighed as I reached the end of it. Of course, it held nothing but the metal washer I had tied to the end to weigh it down.

"Did you catch anything?"

I turned to look at L, surprised by the question. He sat in that odd way of his, one hand resting on his knees, and the other at his mouth as he nibbled at his thumbnail. His eyes were on me in that unwavering gaze he was notorious, at least in my mind, for.

I raised an eyebrow. "Nope." I replied easily. "I guess there's no fish swimming a hundred feet in the air." My attempt at jest did nothing to affect L's demeanor.

Deciding that I was hungry again, I stood up and went into the kitchen. There I found only a cake. But hey, cake's better than nothing. So, I sliced myself a piece, and put it on a plate. When I turned, I found L peering into the kitchen, a hopeful look on his face.

"Since when is my cake up for grabs?" He asked, stepping further into the kitchen.

"Since I got hungry." I replied, shrugging. "It's not like there's anything else to eat around here." I couldn't quite meet his eyes, for I was still embarrassed about the day before, and still bitter toward him. But, at least we were speaking civilly toward one another.

L gave me his classic calculating look, and I turned away, taking my cake back to the workroom, where I sat on the couch, my knees drawn up to my chest, to eat my pilfered slice of cake. He followed me slowly, slouching, and never taking his eyes off me. I wasn't quite sure what to do about this sudden attention I was getting from him. So, I ignored him, focusing entirely on the cake.

Soon enough, the silence had once again grown too unbearable for me. I liked silence as much as the next person, maybe even more than the usual person. But it was more than the silence that was bugging me. It was L's unblinking stare.

"Don't you have something better to do?" I asked, looking up at L. "There's gotta be something you can do besides stare at me." I was annoyed, and trying not to let it show, and that was never a good combination.

L raised one eyebrow. "Actually, there has been a lull in the case. I can only wait now until Kira commits another murder. It is always the waiting that proves the hardest part of a case."

I rolled my eyes. I could have saved L a lot of trouble on the case. But, I wouldn't. It would only prove to make me seem a more likely suspect. So I kept my silence, finishing off the cake, and wishing I had something a bit more substantial to eat. Cake was good, sure. But sometimes, after a whole week of nothing but sweets, you wanted some good, healthy food. Like meat, or something.

As I sat musing over the amount of sugar L ate, a sudden thought struck me. "Ryuuzaki, how do you eat so much sugar, but not get fat?" I asked. The question was not one that would offend L. I was sure of it. Besides, it was probably quite hard to offend L.

"I have a high metabolism rate…"

"Then how come you're not bouncing off the walls all the time?" Even I was constantly moving, and I'm not a hyper person. Whether it was tapping my fingers on the table-top, or jiggling my foot or knee, I was constantly moving. Right now, I was fingering the zipper of my hoodie while waiting for L's answer.

For a moment L said nothing. His eyes never left my face, but he appeared to be thinking. "I use all my energy to think." He replied at last. "Thinking takes more energy than you seem to think…"

I huffed indignantly at his words. "I know very well how much energy thinking takes." I replied shortly. "If I had more to do, like, some books to read or something, then I would have more thinking to do." L had implied that I didn't think. Sure, I often spoke without thinking, but I did think. Sometimes I thought very deep things.

For the first time since I'd met L, he laughed. I looked sharply at him, unsure what he was laughing at. But as soon as I'd looked at him, his laughter had subsided, and he wore the exact same, passive expression as before. I frowned, and turned away again, idly fiddling with my fork.

"Ryuuzaki?" I asked after a moment.

L regarded me with a curious gaze, which I took as an invitation to continue.

"How old are you?"

I wasn't sure at first if L was going to answer. He showed no signs of replying. And then, I thought I saw a smile quirk the corner of his mouth. "I'm twenty-three." He replied at last.

The sudden leaping sensation in my stomach was completely foreign to me. I wasn't sure what it meant. All I knew was that it caused a fluttery feeling, and I realized soon that my hands were shaking a bit more than normal. I could only come to the conclusion that I was pleased that L wasn't completely unattainable after all. What was six years between friends, after all?

--

Yeah... Window-fishing... That's something I've always wanted to do. o.o; Either that or go fishing in the gutter while it's really, really rainy. It's fun, even if there's no hope of catching anything. Not even a leaf or twig. -.-; Anyways, thanks for reading, and don't forget to review!


	7. Chapter 7

Away From Home

Chapter Seven

By Andruindel

--

Roughly two weeks had gone by since L had decided that the chances of my being Kira were at thirty percent. Since that day I had been conscious of the cameras in my room, and I knew that L was watching me on the TV whenever I was not within his immediate sight. But, I had figured out ways to work around the cameras. I simply covered them when I needed to change clothes or something. I knew it must have irritated L, so I never took more time than I needed, and I always uncovered them again as soon as I was done.

In that way the two weeks passed, semi-happily. At least, no one was angry any more. Matsuda and I had slipped back into our former friendship as though nothing had happened, and it seemed like L was paying a bit more attention to me than was usual. Maybe it was just the fact that I was under constant surveillance that gave me this feeling. Strangely enough, the thought that L was watching me as I slept was not as disturbing as I might have thought.

As it was, I was slightly more worried about my trips to the bathroom. Constant surveillance meant just that: Constant surveillance. Of course, it was only L watching, but still, he was a guy. And I was so uncomfortable with that fact that I soon stopped visiting the bathroom unless I absolutely needed to.

In the end I found L at a time when no one else was around, and confronted him about it.

"Ryuuzaki," I started, unsure how to begin. I had continued calling L by Ryuuzaki, as he had requested. Anything to please L, and abate my chances of being Kira.

L swiveled around in his chair, his eyes turned up at me. I knew by this silent signal that he was listening.

"Uhm," I licked my lips nervously before going on. "Listen, about this constant surveillance thing…" I saw L's eyes flicker, and then his mask had been replaced.

"What about it?" L asked. Apparently I had hesitated too long.

I bit my lip as I gathered my thoughts, drawing blood. "I feel kinda... No, scratch that, I feel _really_ uncomfortable with you watching me all the time, especially when…" I paused, hoping he would catch my drift.

Apparently he had. He shifted his gaze from my face, and spoke in a low voice. "As uncomfortable as it makes you, Amy-chan, I'm afraid it's necessary. And, as long as we're on this subject, I should tell you that covering the cameras is not something I can tolerate any more." His words had the sense of being final. But I wasn't going to let it rest at that.

My anger had flared before I could stop it. "Right. Because this is because you think I'm Kira. A likely excuse, Ryuuzaki. You're such a pervert." I turned my head, lowering my eyes. I had not meant to say that, really. Again I had demonstrated the fact that I don't think before speaking, and that I'm just an immature high school senior.

I could sense L's trepidation. "I'm a… pervert?" He asked uncertainly.

"I'm sorry, Ryuuzaki. I didn't mean to… I mean… that kind of came out wrong." I rubbed the back of my head, lifting an apologetic gaze to L's face. With a slight shrug of my shoulders, I turned to go away, planning on wander around in circles for a couple of hours. But L summoned me back.

"I know this is difficult and frustrating for you, Amy." L said slowly. "But you must understand that it is necessary." He spoke without looking at me, but I knew that this was normal. In fact, I had come to expect it from him, and it was a bit disconcerting when he actually looked at me.

I shrugged. "I know, L…" I stated quietly. His eyes fell on me, one eyebrow slightly quirked in my direction, but I paid it no mind. I was beginning to fall into a rare thoughtful mood. I left L to his work then, wandering back to my room to put on my hoodie. I ended up staying in my room, perched on the edge of my bed, and thinking. Although, what exactly I was thinking, I'm not sure.

--

Sometimes boredom leads to dangerous situations. I was in such a situation right now. I had decided, thanks to extreme boredom, to draw. Unfortunately, I had not had any drawing implements at hand, so I'd been forced to steal a sharpie and some paper from L. Sharpie isn't the greatest thing to draw with, so my drawing ended up terrible. So, frustrated, and armed with a sharpie, I set out to find something better to do.

Unfortunately for me, I had made up my mind to torture L. Seeing as no one else was present, and I had nothing better to do, I did my best to sneak up on L. I made as little noise as possible, stepping carefully to avoid making the floor creak. But, I've never been good at memorizing the floors, so no matter where I stepped, the floor creaked loudly. It was amazing that L didn't hear me.

I think the only reason he didn't hear me was because he had fallen asleep. He was still crouched in his chair, sitting across from the monitor that had showed the images from the cameras. I let a smirk cross my face as I crept closer to L, peering into his face. He really was asleep, I realized. And that meant all kinds of mischief.

The first thing I did was sit and watch L for a moment. When he was asleep he looked innocent, and peaceful. He was fully relaxed, breathing slowly and steadily, his chin tucked into his chest. He really was pretty cute, now that I thought about it. For a while I simply watched him, a plan formulating in my mind.

First off, I decided, I was going to put the sharpie to good use. I reminded myself of Jigglypuff, a weird pink puffball from this really stupid TV show I used to watch, that would draw on people whenever they fell asleep. (A/N XD Pokémon reference.) I did put that sharpie to good use, doodling idly on L's face, hands and arms. I was surprised that he didn't wake up, but pleased all the same. I didn't want to be around when he did wake up.

The next thing I did was put the sharpie back where I had found it, throw away the paper with my drawing on it, and stretch out on the couch. Within minutes I was drowsing, my face tucked into the crook of my elbow to block out the light.

I woke some time later, raising my head slightly to gaze around the room. Matsuda, Chief Yagami, and the others were there, but L was no where to be seen. I sat up slowly, running a hand through my hair, and looking around, still befuddled by sleep.

"Good, you're awake." Chief Yagami stated bluntly.

I raised an eyebrow, squinting in the light that came through the window, and letting out a noise, halfway between groan and sigh. "What's going on? Where's Ryuuzaki-san?"

Glances were exchanged between all the taskforce members. Those glances were laden with danger signs, aimed at me. Chief Yagami answered, his voice strict.

"He's showering, because someone decided to draw on him with permanent marker."

I turned my eyes on Matsuda.

"Hey, don't look at me." Matsuda exclaimed. "I wasn't here all day."

I looked away again, stretching nonchalantly. I was stuck, but I wasn't going to admit it. Silence stretched, unbroken by anyone. Chief Yagami was glaring at me, but I didn't meet his gaze. I was looking out the window at the sunshine. Gripped by a sudden desire to go outside, I realized that that's why I was so bored and restless all the time. I hadn't been outside for… two weeks straight. That explained a lot…

Minutes later L entered the room, dressed in his usual outfit, his hair soaking wet. Traces of the sharpie were still visible on his hands and face. I almost smiled, but bit it back. Of course, leave it to L to notice that small of a detail.

"Amy, I want you to go to your room." He said quietly, without sparing me a glance.

I flushed. "I'm not a child, L." I replied defiantly.

L met my gaze evenly. "If you don't want to be treated like a child, then don't act like one." He said simply. His hair hid his eyes from me, but I could see that he didn't even look angry. I hated how he could stay so calm, even when I knew he must be annoyed.

Tossing my hair, I stood up, my head lifted high, and strode toward my room. No one made any move to stop me, because they thought I had brought it upon myself. Before I got out of sight, I turned, placing my hands on my hips.

"If I had more things to do, maybe I wouldn't get so bored." I snapped. And with that I flounced to my room to talk to Panda.

--

I know it's kinda short. xD And I realize that it's several days late. I've been really busy lately, so I forgot to update. Thanks for reading, and don't forget to review! Reviews make teh Andy happy!

Note: Please note that I only think the newer Pokemon seasons are stupid. I actually really liked the first few seasons.


	8. Chapter 8

Away From Home

Chapter Eight

By Andruindel

--

I woke to complete darkness that night. I sat up, looking around nervously. The nightmare I'd just woken from was already fading, but the fear remained. Shadowy figures seemed to leap out at me, and my heart would race, until finally I couldn't stand it any more. I knew at least one task force member would be in the work room, watching me.

Gathering Panda into my arms, I slipped out of bed, and to the door. It was just as dark outside my room, but the eerie glowing light told me that L's computer was on. I stepped carefully down the hall, and emerged into the workroom to see Mogi sitting before the monitor that showed my bedroom. Matsuda watched another monitor that showed several other camera feeds.

Only slightly disturbed by the two men watching my every move, I wandered into the room, and collapsed onto the couch. They didn't talk to me. They didn't ask what I was doing. They didn't inquire why I had wandered into the work room, in a camisole and pajama bottoms, only to collapse on the couch. But their eyes rested on me for a moment. I could feel it.

Not that I cared. I was too half asleep to care.

Within minutes I was asleep again.

--

"How long as Amy been out here?"

"Since at least two o'clock this morning."

"She just came out here and collapsed on the couch."

I had come awake slowly. So slowly, in fact, I wasn't exactly sure when I had come awake, and comprehended the words. As it was, I didn't really care. I turned over on the couch. Or, I would have, had I had enough room. Instead, I tumbled to the floor. It was not quite the way I had wanted to wake up that morning.

At some point during the night, someone had covered me with a blanket. Without pausing to really comprehend that, I grabbed the blanket, and crawled back onto the couch, pulling the blanket over my head. But, having been woken, and rather forcefully at that, it was impossible for me to go back to sleep. For a while I just laid on the couch with my eyes closed, listening to what was going on.

But, nothing interesting was happening, so soon enough, I stood up.

I didn't spare a glance at the men in the room as I pulled the blanket up over my head, and fled to my own room. I was hardly going to let them all see my freaky bed-head. Especially L. L was never, ever, ever going to see me when I my hair was messy.

In a state of half-asleep-ness, I wandered out of my room several minutes later. I was doing my 'random happy dance' which consists of merely moving my shoulders. I couldn't explain why I was doing it. I guess I was happy.

Either way, I knew I could feel someone's eyes on me as I went into the kitchen. I just hoped they weren't L's.

For the rest of the day I lounged around, mostly in my room. There was really nothing better to do, and I was dwelling on the dream I'd had the previous night. I could remember foggy bits and pieces of it, nothing definite. But I knew for sure that it had scared the holy you-know-what out of me.

Only when I meandered out of my room again later in the afternoon did someone bother to ask why I was being so… quiet. For a moment I just frowned at the speaker: Matsuda. No one had ever asked me that question in quite that same context before. I'd been asked why I _was_ so quiet, or why I was being so emo. But no one had ever asked why I was being so quiet, meaning I hadn't done anything insane yet. People were usually used to me being quiet.

It was so weird…

I put my head to one side, still frowning a bit. "What do you mean?" I asked.

Matsuda shook his head. "You haven't insulted anyone, or run around crazily, or even stolen any of L's cake all day! Why are you being so quiet?" He was honestly asking me why I was so quiet. He wasn't asking what was wrong. He wasn't asking why I was being so emo. And he wasn't ignoring the fact that I was being quiet.

I had to laugh. Matsuda looked confused at why I was laughing, but said nothing. "I'm being quiet, because I've been thinking." I replied, still smiling.

"Thinking about what?"

Unknowingly, Matsuda had asked the wrong question. I let my smile fade away, and bit my bottom lip. My eyes went immediately to a point to the left of his head, and I hesitated. "Oh, nothing." I replied, trying to make my voice light. "Just, you know, stuff." I smiled once more, and started toward the window seat.

I had been in a semi-good mood, until the question. Matsuda didn't know what he'd done, of course. He had just asked a simple question. But it was one I did not want to answer. And one that put me thinking again.

Thinking was never a good pass time, in my case.

In this instance, I could only sit in the window seat, gazing down at the world below me. My mind was on nothing specific. Actually, I couldn't even remember what I'd been thinking about by the time I was done thinking it.

I was beginning to feel dizzy and sick from looking down from such a high spot when I heard the sounds that said the others were leaving. I turned around just as Matsuda was standing up. As he looked in my direction, I tilted my head to one side, lifting one eyebrow. He smiled, and I smiled back, dropping my eyes.

"Bye, Amy." Matsuda said, and he lightly ruffled my hair as he passed. I watched as he left, my head tipped to one side, thinking. I didn't even bother trying to fix my hair.

It was silent for all of five minutes. L was simply sitting in his chair, watching me. I was still looking at the door. What exactly I was thinking, I don't even know. All I know is, in a split second, I had decided something.

"Come on, L. We're getting out of here." I jumped to my feet, and before even I could figure out what was going on, I had grabbed L's hand and was pulling him toward the door. My hand was dwarfed by his, but I hardly cared.

I only realized what exactly was going on when L pulled to an abrupt halt. The stop was so sudden that I fell over backwards. Or, I would have, had L not caught me. I fell right into his arms, and, too confused and dazed to really do anything else, I looked up at him, letting my head rest against his shoulder.

"Where are we going, Amy?" L asked me, looking down at me.

I blinked. "I dunno. We're just getting out of here. I'm going insane! Do you realize I haven't been outside for weeks?" I straightened up, fixing my shirt as I glared at L. "I don't care where we go. Just as long as we're not here any more. Besides, I haven't eaten anything that's not junk in forever."

I was sure L was going to refuse. And, surprise surprise, he did.

"I'm sorry, Amy." He said, shaking his head. "I can't risk going outside."

I hung my head in disappointment. Say hello to another few weeks of confinement, Amy.

But, L went on. "However, I could… see if any of the others are willing to take you out for a few hours…" He said slowly. His eyes were downcast, as usual, a sure sign of a quickly working mind.

"Really?!" I asked, narrowing my eyes mistrustfully at him.

"Yes," L sighed, and he turned back to his computer, shoving his hands deep into his pockets. "I'll make some calls…"

"Thank you, Ryuuzaki-san!" I cried. I would have hugged him, but I was too excited to think of it. Instead, I ran for my room. If I was going out, I wanted to make sure I looked presentable. I let down my hair and brushed it out before pulling it back again. Then I looked at my reflection. I looked fine, I guessed. My clothes were clean, my hair was brushed. With a shrug, I deduced that I was not going to look any better.

"Ryuuzaki-san!" I called as I went back to the work room. I looked around, but he was not present. Confused, I stood just inside the work room, my hands on my hips. And then I heard a noise from the kitchen. L was probably eating another slice of cake. That would be… I did a quick calculation on my fingers. Five slices of cake, in just one day!

I hesitated, and then I went to peer into the kitchen. I only let my head show around the door-way, and, just as I had expected, there stood L, cutting himself a rather large slice of cake. Feeling suddenly shy, which I was used to, actually, I said nothing. Instead, I just watched him.

Finally, he turned and noticed me. "Oh, Amy-chan." He said. "Everything is set. Your escort will be here in a matter of minutes."

I smiled. "Thank you, Ryuuzaki." I said quietly. He gave me the smallest shadow of a smile as he passed. I wasn't even sure if I'd really seen it, or imagined it. I followed him back into the work room, and sat down on the edge of the couch, jiggling my leg nervously. I was fervently hoping that it was Matsuda who was taking me out.

Several minutes later, the door opened. I stood up slowly, anxiously awaiting my fate. And…

"Hello, Amy."

Aizawa stepped into the room.

I swallowed. I'd never really liked Aizawa, and here I'd doomed myself to at least an hour in his company, alone. What was I going to do now?! I couldn't just say I'd changed my mind.

"Hello," I replied, forcing a smile.

"Come on then," He said. "My family's waiting in the car."

I let out an unconscious sigh of relief. I wasn't going to be alone with him after all. I was a bit nervous about meeting his family, but it was better than sitting there with just him, in complete silence.

"Bye, Ryuuzaki." I said, glancing once over my shoulder. L didn't react, so I turned back to face forward, and focused my eyes on the floor. I followed Aizawa into the elevator, where I took up my usual position, smashed into a corner, trying to be as small as possible.

Aizawa was looking around idly, until his eyes fell on me and rested there. "Are you okay?" He asked.

"No…" I whispered. "Not really." My eyes were on the floor, and I was focusing on keeping my breathing even.

"What's wrong?"

"I don't like elevators." I replied sharply.

Aizawa looked away. "Why didn't you say so?"

"Because I didn't want to walk down all those stairs."

We said no more until we'd gotten out of the hotel. By that time I'd relaxed some-what, and I was looking around, happy to finally, finally, be out of the hotel room. Even if it was with Aizawa.

His car was nothing special, but at least it was comfortable. And his wife and daughter were both really nice. As soon as I'd been introduced to them, I felt right at home. I was actually really used to socializing with anyone, no matter what their age was. Back home I'd often hung out with my little sister and her friends. But I'd also had friends of all ages, and most adults didn't intimidate me. That's not to say some didn't…

His daughter was absolutely adorable. We talked through the whole car ride, and then we sat together at the restaurant, giggling together. Aizawa kept sending glances in my direction, as though he wasn't sure what to think about how I was interacting with his daughter. His wife obviously didn't know what to think of me either. Aizawa had introduced me as a friend of Matsuda's.

That brought one question that his wife must have been asking to mind: Why was it Aizawa who was taking me out, and not Matsuda? She was obviously too polite to voice any of her questions, though, and she spoke politely to me for the main part of the evening.

But the company was nothing compared to what I ate. For as long as two weeks I'd been craving one thing: Meat. I ordered a steak, with a baked potato on the side. And it was delicious. For the majority of the meal I was silent, focusing entirely on my food. I only spoke when someone addressed me, and then only briefly. I was too intent on my meal to care about anything else.

However, half-way through the meal, Aizawa's phone rang. He excused himself, and left the table.

Minutes later, he rushed back. "We have to go. Watari's waiting. " He said. Then, turning to his wife, "I'll be late tonight. Drive safe."

I immediately protested. "But I'm not done!"

"We have to go." He grabbed my arm just above the elbow and made me get up. Giving my food one last longing look, I followed. What choice did I have? His grip was tight on my arm, but despite my struggles, I couldn't get loose.

"What's going on?" I asked as we got into the car.

Aizawa didn't answer.

I was worried that something had happened. But since I wasn't getting answers, there was no point asking questions. I stared out the window silently, wondering what was going on, for the rest of the ride.

--

Well... Here's yet another chapter. I got some Aizawa-ness in there this time. o.o; Weird, huh? I don't even like Aizawa. But... I figured I might as well. Hehe.. Anyway, this is chapter eight, as you've already probably figured out. And... I'm really just rambling right now. Andy's kinda half-asleep, from staying up until 2:00 in the morning last night. Me and some friends watched Finding Nemo... It was odd. Anyway, thank you for reading this chapter. And thanks for putting up with my random ramblings. Don't forget to review!


	9. Chapter 9

Away From Home

By Andruindel

Chapter Nine

--

When we got back to the hotel, I followed Aizawa inside at a trot. He seemed anxious, and that made me anxious. I wanted to know what was going on. But I didn't dare ask him again. I knew he would just ignore my question.

The first thing Aizawa did when we got into the hotel suite was go to into the workroom and immediately toward L, who sat at his computer. Everyone else was already there. They all looked worried.

L looked up as we entered. His eyes met mine, and I raised my eyebrows at him.

"There is no time to deal with your distractions tonight, Amy-chan." L started. I felt my heart sink at that, although I wasn't quite sure why. "I need you to go to your room now."

There was something different about his tone, and the way he looked at me. I almost didn't like it. But, at least he wasn't sending me to my room like a child this time….

I lifted one shoulder in a shrug, and started toward my room.

It looked like another long night…

--

"Amy, get up!"

My bed started suddenly shaking, and I let out a yelp. For some odd reason I had been lying half-way out of my bed. The result of that was my falling hard to the floor as the bed shook. I fell heavily on one shoulder, and then just lay there. After a minute I sat up.

"Ow…"

I whimpered, having finally comprehended what was going on, and who was in my room. "That was mean." I snapped. Aizawa was not my favorite member of the task force. He never would be, either. The fact that he had just turned me out of my bed, for no good reason, did not make me like him any more.

"Ryuuzaki has something to tell us all." Aizawa told me. He expressed no concern for my well-being, after I had fallen to the floor, and probably gotten bruises. I glared after him as he left, rubbing my shoulder, and muttering to myself.

Too tired to do anything else, I shrugged my hoodie on. I pulled the hood far over my eyes, and left my room. Whatever L wanted to tell me, it must have been important.

Everyone was waiting for me in the work room. I glared at them from under my hood, my eyes narrowed. I was in a dangerous mood. If anyone dared talk to me, or touch me, they would meet a doom far worse than any even I could have imagined. Or, at least… I fondly imagined that they would.

I met Matsuda's gaze, and he seemed just as confused as I was. He was also a lot more awake that I was. Resenting the fact that I'd been woken so early, I settled into my corner.

I was just beginning to drowse when L turned to face the room. Jerking awake, I looked up and around. I was just in time to catch L's eye as he glanced in my direction. Our gazes held for a moment, and then he turned to address the room at large.

"I have determined that Amy is not Kira…" He said slowly.

I didn't wait to hear anything else. I let out a sigh of relief, and lowered my head to my knees. L didn't think I was Kira any more. It was like a huge load had just fallen off my shoulders.

With a relieved smile on my face, I looked back up. I hadn't heard anything that L had just said. Apparently it didn't concern me, because no one was looking at me. They were all looking at L. Since no one was paying any attention to me, I slipped quietly out of the room, and back to mine.

I needed to tell Panda the good news.

--

Now that I was no longer Kira, I was not being watched constantly. I could go anywhere in the hotel suite without anyone caring. It was like heaven after having been trapped in the presence of people for so long.

Even with my new-found freedom, I spent a lot of time with the task force. I really had nothing better to do. I found myself spending a lot of time with Matsuda. Whether I was just sitting watching him work, or talking with him when he had some free time, I was with Matsuda almost constantly.

Sometimes, I think I got on his nerves…

A few days after L had decided I wasn't Kira, I was sitting on the window seat, basking in the sun. My eyes were half-closed, but I was listening to what went on around me. Nothing much was happening. I couldn't quite understand what was going on. All I knew for sure was that some FBI agents had died.

I sat up suddenly, looking around. Matsuda glanced at me, and then went back to work. I had just heard L mention the name 'Raye Penber'. Now I remembered what was going on. Kira had just killed twelve FBI agents. And L suspected that it was Chief Yagami's son.

"Ryuuzaki?"

L glanced at me as I interrupted whatever he had just been saying. I flushed as the activity in the room ground to a halt, and everyone looked at me. But I was determined to ask my question.

"Ryuuzaki, why is Kira killing all these people?"

I had often struggled to understand, from Light's point of view, the reason behind the killings. I had never agreed with what he was doing. But, now that I was in Death Note land, I wanted to know more about what was going on. I wanted to understand why Kira… Light, was killing all those people. Especially the innocent ones like Raye Penber.

I could almost literally see L searching for an answer. It wasn't often that I could see through L's blank mask, but I was pleased whenever I did. This time, I didn't like what I saw.

Everyone was so silent; I was beginning to feel self-conscious. Maybe I'd asked a stupid question. Just as I was about to tell L to forget it, he answered.

"I don't know, Amy." He replied slowly. "However, if I were to make an educated guess, I would say that at first, his motivation was ridding the world of crime and violence. But, I think his priorities have slipped. He feels threatened, and so he kills whatever is threatening him at the time…"

I looked away, digesting that. So his motivation had been some-what good at first. But he'd been corrupted by power. It could happen to anyone, I guess. At that moment I wondered if I could simply tell L who Kira was, and how they killed.

But that would only get me back into suspicion again…

I sighed, and closed my eyes. With so much to think about, I spent the rest of the day dozing on the window seat, until I finally fell asleep in the sun.

--

I woke some time later, cramped and confused. "I've got to stop falling asleep in weird places…" I muttered to myself as I sat up. That was when I realized that L was inches away from me, staring.

I blinked, and swallowed, trying to find words. But my mind was drawing a blank. I had absolutely nothing to say. Which was not unusual under normal circumstances… But these were hardly normal circumstances.

Finally, I looked away, running a hand through my hair. "Don't you have something better to do?" I asked, trying to hide the fact that I was blushing.

"Not really, no…"

I didn't look at him. I didn't really want to.

"How long have I been asleep?"

"Four hours. It's not a good idea to take a nap so late in the afternoon, Amy-chan. You're going to have trouble sleeping tonight."

I yawned, and stretched. "Thanks a lot. I'll remember that." I replied. At the moment, I felt like I could sleep for the rest of the night. I probably looked like a zombie or something, too.

That was half the reason I wouldn't look at L.

But, when he spoke again, I glanced at him.

"The question you asked earlier intrigued me, Amy…"

"Really."

I was in no mood to talk. I was actually in the mood for food. Ha… that rhymed. Apparently I was in a random mood, too. Either way, I didn't want to talk about Kira. Kira always put me into a bad mood.

I heard L backing off, and he sat in his usual chair, in the usual way. Didn't anything ever change around here? Even the food we ate was always the same.

As I turned to look at him, narrowing my eyes, I saw the look in his eyes, and frowned. Before I could snap at him to leave me alone, he spoke.

"What brought that question to your mind, Amy?"

Taken by surprise, I hesitated. L had never really shown this much interest in me. I found it alarming, and even slightly flattering. That just goes to show how disoriented I was from staying inside for so long. I would never have put so much meaning behind a few simple sentences normally.

A moment went by while I thought, my head tilted to one side, and my eyes on L. And then I shrugged. "I just wanted to know… I'm trying to understand what's going on with Kira. Why is he killing people? And if he's trying to rid the world of crime and violence, why are you trying to stop him?"

"Do you think I shouldn't be?"

"No!" I exclaimed, lest L get the wrong idea. "No one should have that much power. The power to control life and death is something only… well, God should have." I hesitated, shrugging. Sometimes my mouth seemed to get away with me before I could think of what I was saying.

L seemed to be pondering what I had said.

"Do you believe in a God?" He asked finally.

I gave him a look I reserved for people who asked something stupid. "Yes." I replied shortly. "I do believe in God." I emphasized the lack of 'a' in the sentence. I was curious to see what L would say in response to that.

L said nothing. He merely let his gaze wander away from me, and fell into silence.

I was still half-asleep. Pretty oblivious to what was going on, I stood up, and wandered into the kitchen. I wasn't necessarily hungry, I was just bored. For once L had shown an interest in me, and I had cut the conversation off short.

I blinked as a thought struck me. "L," I called as I stepped back into the work room. "I've seriously got nothing to do around here. Do you think you could take me to get some books tomorrow?"

L turned his eyes on me, and nodded once. "Very well." He replied.

Pleased, I smiled. I even thought about hugging him. But I thought better of it, and instead blew a kiss at the back of his head. I knew he wouldn't see it. Giggling, I retreated to my room before L could ask what was so funny.

I was looking forward to our excursion to the book store the next day.

--

Mmmmyes... Well... Andy's running out of chapters! OO I've got chapter 13 finished, but I'm kinda stuck on chapter 14. I think that's only because I was kinda messed up with my Death Note time-line. ; Now that I know what's going on in the anime, I should be able to continue writing, no problem. I know, nothing really big happens in this chapter. But.. Hey, it's fun.

By the way, does anyone know L's religious views? o.o; I was planning on having them have a big ol' religious discussion. Then again, religioun in a touchy subject... So, give me an opinion in your reviews, please! If you want to see a big ol' discussion between Amy and L, please, do tell me! Anyway, thanks for reading, and I'll try to update soon.


	10. Chapter 10

Away From Home

Chapter Ten

By Andruindel

--

"Amy-chan!"

For once I was up before someone came to fetch me. I had risen an hour ago, and showered. Now I was in my room, fixing my hair and looking at my reflection in the mirror. I looked alright, I guess. My hair was curly, rather than frizzy, and I was wearing the one skirt I'd bought, a denim one that reached my knees, and a green top.

I smiled once at my reflection before going to my door.

"Good morning, Matsuda!" I greeted Matsuda. I smiled, and hugged him. I was feeling random, impulsive, and hyper.

Apparently Matsuda was surprised by the hug. But he returned it none-the-less, smiling down at me.

"Good morning, Amy-chan." He replied. "Are you ready?"

I grinned. "Of course I am. I'm surprised he actually remembered." Shrugging, I started down the hall toward the work room. Matsuda followed me.

"Actually, I'm going to take you to the book store." He said. I looked up at him, surprised. He hurriedly went on. "It's good to see you and Ryuuzaki getting along, though." He said cheerfully.

I merely smiled to myself. It really was nice to be getting along with Ryuuzaki. Not being suspected of Kira was pure, unadulterated bliss. I was still getting used to the freedom.

Now that I thought about it, I liked spending time with L. He may have been intimidating, and weird, and way too smart for his own good, but he was fun to talk to. If only I could actually have a conversation with him without embarrassing myself. L wasn't like Matsuda. He wasn't easy to talk to. I was just going to have to figure out how to get him out of that shell.

"Ryuuzaki!" I skipped into the work room, looking around. L was sitting in front of the monitors. It was a Saturday, so of course he was watching Light. Chief Yagami was there, too.

L barely glanced at me. "Are you ready?" He asked.

"Yes, I'm ready." I replied. I stood watching him, my hands clasped behind my back, and my head tilted to one side. I wasn't sure what I was waiting for. Perhaps a 'you look nice, Amy'? It was, after all, the first time I'd worn a skirt…

L waved one hand dismissively. "Have fun, you two." He said.

I rolled my eyes. "Ryuuzaki, we're just going to the book store." I said. I followed Matsuda out the door, sending a quick glance at L as I went. I couldn't help wondering why L wasn't going with me.

The two of us walked the short distance to the elevator. I skipped at every other step. Even the ride in the elevator, which under normal circumstances I hated, wasn't enough to rid me of my random, hyper mood. I could scarcely keep still. But I wasn't even sure why.

My eyes were everywhere as we rode the elevator down. Except on Matsuda. He seemed to notice how jittery I was, for he had fixed me with a calculating stare.

"You seem…" He hesitated searching for the right word.

"Hyper, spazzy, jittery, take your pick." I said obligingly. I finally looked at him, and smiled, lifting my shoulders slightly in a shrug.

Matsuda smiled widely at me. He was still looking at me, and I blushed lightly, looking away. I hated it when people looked at me like that.

"You seem hyper today, Amy-chan." Matsuda completed his sentence.

I shrugged. "That's because I am, Matsuda-san." I replied. "I dunno why, though." I was hoping that Matsuda wouldn't think I was weird. Most people thought I was weird anyway. But when I displayed my rare hyper side, that image was magnified by ten.

Matsuda grinned. "Why?" He asked.

I shrugged yet again. "I really don't know. I just am." It went quiet then.

Minutes later the elevator reached the ground floor, and the doors opened. Relieved to be out of the elevator, I skipped out after Matsuda. My eyes stayed on the back of his head as I followed him out of the hotel. I continued skipping with every other step, just enough that my walk had a slight spring to it.

We passed Aizawa on the way outside. He nodded to Matsuda, and then me. I smiled. Even Aizawa wasn't going to annoy me today. I was in a good mood, and determined to stay that way.

Matsuda and I didn't talk again until we reached the book store. That was actually when I discovered something awesome about Death Note land. Just like I could understand what they said, even though I was pretty sure they were speaking Japanese, I could read the books. I was enthralled.

The first thing I looked for was my favorite book ever. Actually, my three favorite books. I found them no problem.

Matsuda seemed to find my book choice interesting.

"You actually read these, Amy-chan?" He asked, carefully looking over a book I had just selected.

I was appalled. "Of course I do!" I cried. "Who doesn't love C.S. Lewis?!" I snatched the book back, pretending to be angry, but I really wasn't. I actually knew a lot of people who didn't enjoy reading my favorite author. They were just too stupid to understand, and actually get, what he wrote.

Matsuda shrugged apologetically. "I've never found the time to read any of his books." He said slowly. "But I've heard they're very deep, and profound."

"They are." I replied. "Lewis was a genius."

I could tell that Matsuda was going to say something, but that he changed his mind half-way there. I tilted my head to one side, but when he didn't go on, I shrugged, and turned back to the books. I had a good idea what he had been about to say, anyway. On more than one occasion the members of the task force had implied that I didn't think. Now he was surprised that I actually thought deeply enough to enjoy C.S. Lewis's work. I resented that, but I was too busy to let it bother me.

Besides, now that I had books, I could get all my deep thinking done in peace. I no longer had to sit around watching the task force work. And with the right material, maybe I could surprise L like I had with my question about Kira.

--

Later on, back at the hotel, I had claimed the entire couch as my own. Rather than sit on the window seat, like usual, I was lounging on one of the two couches. I had started in on one of the books I'd bought, one I had actually never read before. It was one of the three Lewis books I'd bought.

L was watching the monitor, watching Light.

It bothered me that we hadn't spoken for hours. Actually, we hadn't spoken since Matsuda and I had gotten back from the book store.

Minutes after our return, I ended up tackling Matsuda to the floor in a hug. Just randomly, because I was hyper. I regretted it, because I hated being impulsive. But Matsuda hadn't seemed to mind. So I just went along with it, and laughed with Matsuda.

But the others just glared at Matsuda.

"Quit messing around, Matsuda. We've got serious work to do." Chief Yagami scolded him.

"B-but.. She!" Matsuda stuttered, looking hopelessly from me to Chief Yagami. I put on my most innocent face, and looked toward the ceiling. With a sigh, Matsuda lowered his head. "Sorry." He said. He sounded totally dejected.

So, an hour later…

There I was, on the couch, reading, and listening to L as he muttered to himself. I couldn't hear what he was saying. That was really none of my business anyway.

Only when the door opened, and I glanced up, did I snap out of my book-reading mood. Watari had just entered with ice cream.

"Hi, Watari!" I cried. This had to be the most enthusiastic greeting I'd ever given him. And he knew that. But he hardly showed it.

L gave more of a reaction than Watari. He looked up, his blank expression dropping to one of slight amusement. But then it was hidden again.

I had hardly noticed any way. I was too distracted by the ice cream. I watched anxiously as Watari began scooping the ice cream onto a cone.

I was sure my bottom lip protruded just a bit when he handed the cone to L.

But almost as soon as my pout had come, it was gone.

"Would you like some ice cream, Amy-chan?" Watari asked.

"Yes please!" I cried.

Eagerly, I watched as Watari scooped more ice cream onto another cone. And then he handed it to me.

"Thank you," I said softly.

Seconds later I was attacking the ice cream. And it was amazing. Ice cream and books: Two of my favorite things. I glanced once at L as I settled back onto the couch. He was once again watching the monitor.

With a sigh, I turned back to my book.

"Is something wrong, Amy-chan?"

I looked up, confused. "Why would something be wrong?"

"You sighed."

"Oh…" I frowned, still confused. "Uh, no, nothing's wrong."

"Oh."

I gazed at L for a moment, unsure what exactly was going on. But he had noticed my sigh. And he had cared enough to ask if something was wrong. Pleased with that, I went back to my book, a smile hovering at the corner of my mouth.

--

Well... I don't really like this chapter. It seems like nothing important has happened in so long. . Hopefully I'll be able to fix that. Anyway, thanks for reading, and don't forget to review! I'll update hopefully in about a week. Until then, farewell, my luvlies!


	11. Chapter 11

Away From Home

Chapter Eleven

By Andruindel

--

Staying up late had never been my favorite thing to do. It always did several things to me. These things are, in order: I talk too much. Seriously. I could sit there and talk about absolutely nothing for at least an hour, unless someone stopped me. Next, I laughed at nothing. I would laugh at a fork in that condition. Lastly, I would say things I regret. Once you got me talking when I was half asleep, I said anything. Anything at all. Half the time, that something ended up being something I would rather have not said.

That was why, currently, I was sitting in my corner, clutching Panda to my chest. I had donned by hoodie, and pulled the hood up to hide my face. I was hoping that L wouldn't notice me, and send me to bed. Going to bed was the one thing I dreaded at the moment.

"Amy-chan," I winced as L spoke from the couch.

"Yes?" I asked timidly. I looked up, but L wasn't looking at me.

"It's late, Amy. Shouldn't you be in bed?"

"Do I have to be…?"

For a moment L didn't reply. He seemed intent on what he was doing. When he did reply, his tone said that the matter was closed. "Yes, Amy. Go to bed."

I sighed, and stood up. I suddenly felt like a child again, being sent to bed. At the moment L was more like a parent, or older brother, in my mind than anything else. Just the way he said things to me was enough to remind me of a 'legal guardian'. And he wasn't even my guardian. Technically.

"Fine… Good night, Ryuuzaki." I said softly. I would have gone over to give him a hug, but something told me not to. After all, I'd only known him for a few weeks. So I just went to my room, lugging Panda with me.

It was dark in my room. I jumped as I thought I saw something out of the corner of my eye. But it was nothing. Scolding myself for being such a wuss, I entered my room, flicking on the light.

Every little movement I thought I saw freaked me out. By the time I was ready for bed, I was distinctly freaked. But I got into bed, and closed my eyes.

It was a long time before I got to sleep.

--

I woke with a start, hearing a scream echoing in my ears. It was a moment before I realized that it was my own scream. I sat up in bed, pulling the covers up to my chin as I looked around. It could not have been much later than when I'd gone to bed.

Another scream almost ripped its way out of my throat when the door burst open. I bit my lip, and watched as a shadowy figure entered my room.

"Amy…"

"L…"

I was relieved that at least he had come to check on me. You had to be extremely heartless not to check on a girl who had just screamed in the middle of the night.

It was then that I noticed that I was close to tears. Every image from the dream was burned into my mind. As L approached, I looked away. Even though he couldn't see me, I was ashamed of the tears fighting to escape.

"Is everything alright?"

"Not really…" The words didn't want to leave my mouth. It took so much effort, I almost didn't even try.

I could see L's outline in the darkness. Not distinctly, but enough to reassure me that he was close.

"I heard you scream. Are you okay?"

I swallowed before answering. "It was just a nightmare. I'm fine…"

"Alright…" He turned to leave, but I stopped him.

"L," When he looked at me again, I hesitated. "C-can I stay out there with you?"

He didn't answer for a moment. "Of course…" He replied at last.

Relieved, I jumped out of bed, making sure to bring Panda with me. I followed L back into the work room, my head bowed, and my shoulders hunched. I jumped only once, when L's elbow touched mine. It had been an accident, but the sudden contact was enough to scare me, in my current state.

L sat back down on the couch, and I sat beside him, curling into as small a ball as possible. I clutched Panda close, shivering slightly in the cool night air. My mind was running over and over the nightmare, and I was unable to stop it. Helpless in my fear, I sat there, miserable and afraid to close my eyes.

At least L was there, though. Just his presence made me feel safer.

Eventually, I sat up, cramped from the position I'd been in. I hesitated for a moment before lying down on the couch, curling my legs up, and letting my head rest beside L. I closed my eyes, and curled into a tighter ball.

L didn't seem to mind, so I stopped worrying about it.

Soon enough, I had fallen back into sleep.

--

By the time I opened my eyes again, the sun was shining, and voices reached me from near the door. I stretched, noting the absence of L's warm form beside me. I had rather enjoyed sleeping beside him on the couch. I'd felt safe, and warm while he was there.

Now that he was gone, I felt rather lonely.

As I stretched my arms above my head, taking up the entire couch, I heard someone enter the room. My mind was still fuzzy from sleep, and I felt rather clueless. At least I'd forgotten about the dream of the night before. For now.

"Amy-chan, you're in my seat…"

"Meh." I opened my eyes a bit, and glared up at L. He was standing above me, his hands in his pockets, and his usual blank look on his face. It was a bit disconcerting, having L hovering over me like that.

When L said absolutely nothing, I sighed, and sat up. I mashed myself into a corner of the couch, watching as L sat down again. Unknowingly, I let out another sigh.

"Is everything alright, Amy-chan?"

I looked up. I hadn't been paying attention, so I wasn't quite sure what L meant. Blinking, I looked around. "Uh, not really…" I said. Flashes of the night before were coming back. And now I was thoroughly depressed.

L actually turned to look at me. I was surprised, to say the least. "Is something bothering you?" He asked me.

I shrugged. "Yes." I said simply. "But I don't really want to talk about it right now…" I turned away, looking out the window. I had not noticed until then how gray the day was. Since that day when I had gone fishing out the window, I had not seen a gray day. The day seemed to be mirroring my mood.

Apparently L respected my wish not to talk about what was bothering me, and he fell silent.

We were quiet for the good part of two hours.

And it stayed silent until the rest of the task force arrived.

I had, by that time, moved to my favorite corner of the room. I sat with my back to the wall, rocking slowly back and forth. Panda rested in my arms, and I had let my chin fall onto the top of his head.

I knew I looked totally at peace.

But I was fighting terror. My self-control was slipping, slowly, but surely. If I didn't do something to take my mind off of the dream I'd had the night before… or at least talk about it, I was going to scream.

And yet… no one seemed to notice.

Everyone went about work normally. No one even said hi to me. As they entered, one by one, they ignored me. Not even Matsuda acknowledged my presence. I was hurt, to say the least.

The day wore on. My restraint wore thin. And still no one spoke to me. I felt invisible. I could feel tears welling in my eyes as I finally tired of being ignored. I'd gotten enough of that back home.

"Amy-chan, are you alright? You're being really quiet."

I swallowed, willing the tears to go away, and looked up at Matsuda. He had finally acknowledged my existence. He was gazing down at me with a look of concern, and for a moment I almost wished I could tell him everything.

But then I looked around, and realized that everyone else was still there. I looked away as I stood up. "I… I'm fine." I said, hesitating for only a moment. I couldn't afford to fall apart now.

Matsuda looked like he didn't believe me. That was my fault. I hadn't sounded very convincing. "Alright…." He said slowly. He offered me a small smile, but I hardly noticed. I was retreating to the window seat. Several pairs of eyes followed me. I didn't look up. I didn't want them to see me.

I sat quietly for another half an hour, gazing out the window at the gray, and darkening, sky. I didn't look up when Chief Yagami, Aizawa and the others left.

I only looked up when the door closed, and then I felt two people approaching me. Before I could ask what was going on, Matsuda had his hand on my arm. He was gazing reproachfully at me. L stood to one side, watching.

I pulled away from his touch. "What?" I asked.

"Come on, Amy, what's bothering you?" Matsuda asked. I was touched to see that he was worried about me.

I smiled weakly at him, before moving to stand up. Both L and Matsuda followed me to the couch. I plopped down in a corner, pulling my knees to my chest.

"I… I had a nightmare last night." I said slowly. Matsuda sat down a little away from me. I saw the sympathy in his gaze, but instead of feeling better, I resented it. I was acting stupid. Why was I so scared of a nightmare? I was almost eighteen.

"That's what's bothering you?" L asked from where he stood.

I swallowed hard. "You don't understand, L." I started. "It.. It was horrible. It was like in a horror film. There were too little kids, a little boy and a little girl… And they were stuck in an abandoned hospital or something…" I paused, reliving the nightmare. It took a moment for me to gather the courage to go on.

"Th-there was a man in the hospital with them. And he was, like, a mass murderer. And the kids had to avoid him, in order to live through the night and get out." I went quiet again, willing myself to continue. "But… he kept popping out of no where and killing the little girl. It was just scene after scene flashing through my mind, where the kids thought they were safe, and then the man was there, and he stabbed the little girl.. Just over, and over, and over."

I rested my head on my knees. The dream flashed through my memory again, and I could feel tears brimming in my eyes. "And then, finally… The little girl died, and the little boy fainted. And the next thing I knew, it was like I was the little girl, and I sat up in a morgue. And it was just… sheer terror, waking up in the middle of that room, full of dead people."

Before I could stop myself, I was crying. I buried my head in my arms, hoping that L and Matsuda hadn't noticed. Unfortunately for me, at least Matsuda had.

"Oh, Amy, it's okay!" He hesitantly put his arm around me, as though he was afraid I would hit him or something. I was too upset to really care. Besides, it was Matsuda, so I wouldn't have cared any way.

I leaned into Matsuda's arms, letting myself be consumed by the tears for a moment. It was nice to finally let everything out in a few minutes of crying. As I leaned into Matsuda, his other arm went around me. For a moment he just held me close.

Of course, I had to stop crying some time. I knew L was right there, watching. And that fact made me feel slightly ashamed. I sat up, wiping at my eyes, and smiling sheepishly.

"You okay?" Matsuda asked me.

I shrugged. "I guess." I said softly. "Uh... thanks for listening. I'm gonna go… to my room." I stood up, glanced once at L, and escaped to my room. I'd felt better while I was crying. But now that I had recovered my composure, I was embarrassed to have cried in front of both L and Matsuda. That was why I'd fled the scene. I would never forgive myself for losing control…

--

Uhm... Yeah... I'm not really pleased with this chapter. There are a lot of things in here that I myself am sensetive about... Like the nightmare... That was a nightmare that I actually had. And I think this is the first time I've ever described it in detail. ;-; Anyway...

Important notice!!

As of today, this story is on hold. I may update once every few weeks, but it's not my first priority any more. Andy's going through a hard time right now, with some personal matters, and fanfic is, obviously, not the first thing on my mind at the moment. Plus, I'm kinda stuck on this, so I've only finished up to chapter 15, and I'm catching up with myself. Hopefully I'll be able to get back to this story soon. Sorry, guys! I'll try not to let this die!


	12. Chapter 12

Away From Home

Chapter Twelve

By Andruindel

--

When I wandered out of my room an hour later, I had decided I was going to act as though nothing had happened. I meandered past L in the work room, and into the kitchen. I was hungry, but not expecting to find anything other than the usual: cake, and sweets.

Of course, I didn't.

So, contenting myself with a piece of cake, I went back into the work room. L hadn't moved since I'd seen him a minute before. Which wasn't unusual. I said nothing as I sat down, and began eating my cake.

Minutes later, L got up and went to the kitchen. He returned with his own piece of cake. I hadn't quite expected that. If anything I'd been expecting him to ask me to get him a slice of cake. I knew it was coming some day. Some day I was going to walk into the kitchen and be bombarded by requests for food.

But that day was not today.

Still vaguely depressed about the dream, and having cried in front of L, I silently took a bit of cake. The frosting was too thick, and sugary for me. That's not to say I didn't like a lot of frosting on my cake, but it all depended on the type of frosting. Some day, I was going to make my own cake, and my own frosting. Thankfully I'd learned how to make frosting from scratch several years ago.

L sat back at his computer, and proceeded to eat his cake.

I watched, my head tilted to one side. I was, rather unknowingly, admiring L. His hair was, while quite untidy, just pure awesome-ness. I found myself wishing fervently that I had anime hair. And then there were his eyes. But before I could get much further, L turned and looked right at me.

I froze, feeling a blush spread across my face. I could just imagine myself blushing like in an anime.

"Why are you staring?" L asked me.

I quickly looked away. "I…I wasn't." I stuttered, and then I cursed myself for stuttering. I took a deep breath, and then glanced back at L. Surely he would never let me live this down.

I was nearly angry when I saw that he had turned back to his computer. Even when he caught me so obviously admiring him, it was impossible to attract his attention. I rested my chin in my hand, downcast, and thoughtful. I no longer wanted my cake. Which wasn't surprising, considering the size of the slice I'd cut. One could only handle so much cake at once.

Suddenly feeling slightly ill, I stood up. "I'm going to bed." I said abruptly. "Good night."

L hardly glanced at me. "Good night, Amy."

I couldn't help but note the lack of any suffix.

--

I felt much better the next day. I woke up refreshed, and happy. But as my stomach rumbled, I pulled a face. It had been so long since I'd had anything real to eat. My mind went wistfully back to that steak I'd left behind when Aizawa had taken me to that restaurant.

I turned my attention to the closed door as someone knocked. Irritated, for no other reason than the fact that it was morning, I glared at the door. "What?" I snapped.

"Can I come in?" I recognized Matsuda's voice.

Casting around quickly, I reached for my hoodie, and pulled it on. Then I pulled my hair back, slipping the hair band I kept on my wrist into it. "Yeah, come on in."

The door opened, and I smiled as Matsuda came in. He smiled back at me. Obviously he was in a good mood. A better mood than I was in, any way. And he didn't seem to think any less of me for having cried the previous night.

"Hey, Amy." He said lightly. "You wanna go with me to get some food?"

"What kinda food?" I asked, rather suspiciously.

"Lunch foods." He replied. "Ryuuzaki just realized that there's nothing to eat, and it's time for lunch."

I smiled again. I'd realized there was no food weeks ago. "Sure, I'll go with you. I'll be out in a few minutes."

"Okay."

I watched as he left, closing the door behind him, and then I jumped off the bed. I pulled on some clothes, brushed my hair, and then dashed to the bathroom to wash my face. I was done in record time, and out in the work room pulling on my shoes before I could even realize that everyone was discussing something rather loudly.

When I finally looked up, it was to find that L was going toward the door. I glanced at Matsuda, who shrugged, and nodded toward L. Apparently L was going with us. I stood up and followed Matsuda toward the door, a bit confused.

I trailed behind L and Matsuda quietly. Part of the reason I was quiet, on the elevator ride, anyway, was because I was too busy squeezing myself into a corner and focusing on not hyperventilating. But, for the rest of the time, I was just too nervous to say anything. I'd wasted all my hyperness for the last few days. Now, after several days of pure random hyperness, I was lapsing back into my normal, quiet, shy mode of living.

Finally, as we were getting into the car, I asked a question.

"Ryuuzaki, why are you coming with us?" I asked, glancing up at L as he got into the passenger's seat.

L said nothing. So, Matsuda answered.

"We're dropping him at the college." He said. He glanced once at L, and said no more.

"Oh. Okay." I replied. I honestly didn't care at the moment. I was planning.

And I was planning pure evil.

--

As soon as we got back to the hotel, and out of the elevator, I ran for the hotel room, and toward the kitchen, leaving Matsuda to carry the bag of, (it took quite a lot of effort not to shudder), sushi. Why was it that they insisted on eating food that I refused to? Thankfully, Matsuda had agreed to buy me a sandwich at a deli we passed. We had also stopped at a grocery store, but we'd only bought one thing there. I had other things to do.

I was stopped, just as I entered the hotel suite, by Chief Yagami.

"Amy, where is Matsuda?"

I skidded to a stop, biting my lip. "I... I left him outside to bring in the food." I replied. My conscience was beginning to bother me. I hesitated for a moment, unwilling to start my plan any later than was necessary, but also wanting to help Matsuda.

In the end, I went to help Matsuda. He seemed to appreciate the help, because he smiled as I took the white box he was carrying out of his arms. I couldn't help smiling back.

"You know, you're really cute, Matsu." I said, shortening his name for the first time. Until that moment in time, I'd been partially afraid to give Matsuda a nick-name.

Realizing what I'd just said, I looked away, blushing. I bit my lip, unsure what Matsuda's reaction was going to be. I had just reminded myself why I hated being spontaneous. I was always spontaneous in a bad way. Which, by the way, usually landed me in trouble.

Just like now.

But, Matsuda said nothing. I glanced shyly up at him, and to my surprise, he was blushing too! "Th-thanks, Amy-chan." He stuttered.

I smiled, forgetting my embarrassment. Who could be embarrassed around Matsuda? He was just too awesome for something like that.

The two of us succeeded in getting all the food put away in the kitchen. As soon as Matsuda left, I put my plan into action.

I'd insisted on buying a large, yellow, white-frosting cake, with strawberries on top. There was one thing I knew L could not resist. And that one thing was cake. I carefully opened the box, and grinned. The cake looked delicious. It was perfect

Delighted with the cake, and the idea I'd gotten earlier, I closed the box again, and put the cake aside. To ensure no one ate it before I was ready, I found a piece of paper and a sharpie. My cheeks burned as I remembered how I'd doodled all over L with a sharpie. I was half surprised that no one stopped me and asked what I was doing with the potential graffiti item.

When I was finished, the paper read 'Eat under penalty of death'.

Satisfied, I put the sign on the top of the cake box, and left the kitchen.

"Amy, where's the cake we bought?" Matsuda asked from where he sat on the couch.

I tilted my head to the side. "It's in the kitchen, Matsu-sama." I replied easily. I smiled, but as he stood up and headed toward the kitchen, my smile melted away. "Don't you dare eat the cake!" I cried. I must have startled him, and everyone else, for soon all eyes were on me.

I could feel myself blushing, but I quickly fought it back. "I was going to wait until Ryuuzaki got back before eating it…" I said softly, biting my lip.

Matsuda seemed to sense some mischief, for he raised one eyebrow at me, but then he smiled. "Alright then, I guess I can wait." He said.

I sighed in relief, and went to my favorite corner. There, I sat watching the men work, and waiting until L got back.

--

Hey, people! It's been over a month since I last updated! I hope you were all glad to see this chapter, haha. And I hope you all liked it. Not a lot happened... Basically, it was a bit of a filler. I'm actually not really pleased with it. But, you know, I figured it was time for an update. I'm finally finished with chapter 16, and hopefully that means I'll be updating again soon. Thanks for reading, and don't forget to review!


	13. Chapter 13

Away From Home

Chapter Thirteen

By Andruindel

--------

Watching people work for hours on end was describable by only one word: Boring! I had long since dropped into a drowse, my mind wandering from thought to thought, flitting between them before I had even finished thinking them completely. And then, if I wanted to go back and finish thinking a certain thought, it was gone. I could never remember what exactly I'd been thinking while I sat there…

Several times I thought I heard the door open. I looked up each time, only to find that it had been my imagination. Eventually I stopped looking up, and closed my eyes, shutting out the voices around me.

But, as soon as I heard the door open, and L's voice, I lifted my head off my knees, and looked toward the door. Matsuda had looked up as well. I was sure L was going to ignore me.

However, as soon as L came in the door, rather than going straight to his computer, he paused for a moment, and glanced in my direction. I blinked, and then smiled, rather shyly, at him. I swiftly looked away again, sure I was slightly pink in the face.

Being cute was essential to my plan right now.

After L had gone to his computer, and I had waited for a moment, I got up and went into the kitchen. I made sure to pointedly ignore L, even though I was sure he glanced at me. A smile crossed my face for a moment once I was in the kitchen. If I knew anything about L, then my plan was going to work perfectly.

Still smiling to myself, I opened the cake box again. It still looked perfect. I busied myself sliding it carefully out of the box, and finding paper plates and a knife. By the time I'd found a knife, and cut myself a sizable slice of the cake, someone was peering at me from the door way.

"Are you having cake?"

My smile widened, but I quickly hid it. "Maybe." I replied, without looking at L. I heard him pad further into the kitchen, and then he was behind me, watching over my shoulder as I put the cake on the plate.

"Does L get some…?"

I nearly giggled. He was so cute! "No…" I replied, drawing it out until the one word had a sing-song quality. This time I glanced over my shoulder at him, smiling my cutest smile.

I saw L's disappointment clearly. "Why not?" He asked me.

I pretended to think for a moment. "Because there's nothing in it for me." I replied after a moment. I turned, holding my slice of cake in one hand, to face L.

L's eyes immediately narrowed. He eyed me suspiciously. "What do you want, Amy-chan?" He asked slowly.

Again I pretended to think, still smiling as cutely as possible. Eventually, I looked back at L. "A hug." I said innocently.

L's head went down, so I could no longer see his eyes. He hunched his shoulders. Apparently he was considering. I waited, my smile having turned into more of a smirk. Knowing L, he would not be able to resist the temptation of cake.

Just as I had thought, L finally looked up, and approached. His arms went around my shoulders, my arm went around him. I rested my cheek against his chest. And then it was over.

L pulled away, taking the plate out of my hand as he did. He offered me the slightest of smiles, and then turned to leave.

I watched, silent. Cursing L for being so cute.

When I finally realized that L had taken my cake, it was too late to save it. I stood for a moment gazing at my empty hands. I sighed, and cut myself another slice.

A sudden thought occurred to me as I heard Matsuda's voice from the work room. "Matsu!" I called, and I peeked into the work room. "Did you want some cake?"

Matsuda leapt up. "Sure!" He cried.

I smiled brightly at him. As he came toward me, I let my eyes land on L. He was enjoying _my_ slice of cake, I noticed. Narrowing my eyes, I stepped back to let Matsuda into the kitchen. He apparently noticed my death glare, in L's direction, and he looked between me and L for a moment, a knowing look in his eyes.

I finally looked at him, and raised an eyebrow. "Don't give me that look." I said. I wasn't quite sure what the look meant, but I had an idea. Averting my eyes, I pointed silently to the cake.

"You're going to make me cut myself a slice?" He asked.

I refused to answer. Instead, I gave him a look that clearly said 'Stop being stupid'. I was back into my quieter mode, and awfully thoughtful.

"Ryuuzaki, I hate you." I stated simply as I plopped myself down on the window seat. I hardly glanced at him; my attention was focused on the cake.

For a moment it was quiet. No one seemed to have noticed I'd said anything. But as I was taking my first bite of cake, L swiveled around in his chair.

"Why?" He asked.

I glanced up. "Why what?"

"Why do you hate me?"

"You stole my cake."

"…I thought you cut it for me… Was I incorrect?"

"Yes. That was my piece of cake."

L glanced down at the half-eaten slice of cake. "I'm sorry." He replied solemnly. Then he looked back up at me. "Do you still hate me?"

I considered, looking out the window. "Not if you buy me a puzzle or two." I replied. "That'll give me something to do."

"Agreed." L said, and he turned back to the computer.

I smiled to myself, and looked back out the window. I was curious to know what L had done at the college. No doubt he'd been keeping an eye on Light. I shuddered as my mind fell on Light.

How was I supposed to keep L safe from Light, if I couldn't tell him that Light was Kira?

-----

Once again, L and I were hanging out one on one. At least, I fondly imagined that we were hanging out. In reality, L was sitting on his computer, and I was on the couch, upside down.

Yes, I was upside down. It was one of the weird things I did when I was either bored, or feeling random. A small amount of sugar rush wasn't helping things either. So, as I sat, upside down, on the couch, my head almost touching the floor, I was humming quietly to myself.

Finally, I started singing, quietly at first, but then louder.

"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You make me happy when skies are gray! You'll never know, dear, how much I love you. Please don't take my sunshine away."

"Amy," I fell silent, and sat up, looking over the back of the couch at L. He had turned to face me. "Please stop."

I pouted. "Why?"

L looked away. "You're annoying me." He replied.

Disappointed, I let myself back down to my former position. "Alright." I said.

It was quiet for a while. I was twiddling my thumbs, and gazing up at the ceiling silently. I could hear L biting his thumb-nail.

Eventually, I began feeling the effects of the blood rushing to my head. I sat up again, and then I sat right on the couch. I began my 'random dance', which was usually reserved for when I was happy, or when I was eating peanut butter. But, on rare occasions, I would just do it anyway.

I was bored. And I was hyper.

That was never good.

But, at least this time I had something to do. I stood up, and went to my room, where I picked up my book. I usually had a book in my hand constantly. Recently, however, I hadn't been reading much. I wasn't even sure why.

Either way, now I was reading. And I was no longer bored.

Eventually I looked up. A question had just occurred to me. "Hey, L?" I asked.

"Yes, Amy…" L didn't look at me. But I was used to it by now. He hardly ever did. I went on. He was listening.

"L, why am I here?"

I saw L stiffen. And then he swiveled around in his chair to face me. "What do you mean?" He asked.

"I mean, why haven't you kicked me out yet?" I shrugged. "I've been here for weeks, and I'm pretty sure I've gotten on your nerves a lot. So, why am I still here?"

"Oh." L turned back to his computer. "It would be dangerous to let you go now. You know too much. You could leak quite a lot of information."

"Is that all I'm good for? Keeping your identity safe?" I pouted, resting my chin in my palm.

"Frankly, yes. Plus, there's a better chance of Watari bringing cake while you're here."

"Gee, thanks." I said. "It's nice to know I'm good for something."

"We appreciate it."

Was L actually joking around with me? It was hard to tell. He was so serious all the time. I decided that he was, and settled back on the couch with my book. I guess L wasn't too bad.

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Hey, people. Sorry this one's a little short. And nothing important happens. Again. Nothing amazing really happens until chapter Seventeen, when Light finally makes and appearance. -winkwink- So, please bare with me until then. Thanks for reading, and don't forget to review!


	14. Chapter 14

Away From Home

Chapter Fourteen

By Andruindel

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How long had I been gone? How many weeks had I been in Death Note land? What was my family doing? Why was I still there any way?

So many questions had gone through my mind in so short a time, my head was beginning to hurt. I fled out of the solitude of my room to the work room, where Chief Yagami, Aizawa, Matsuda, and L were working.

L had gone to the college a few more times since that day almost two weeks ago. I had yet to see Light. And I was actually glad of that. I was not looking forward to meeting Light.

Bitter resentment at the world flooded through me, pumping through me like the blood in my veins. I ignored the men and went into the kitchen. I wasn't really hungry, but looking for food would give me something to do.

However…

I ended up just opening drawers, doors, and cabinets and slamming them closed, not hard enough to break anything, but loud enough to get some satisfaction out of the action. I hadn't been so angry at absolutely nothing in weeks. I knew I really shouldn't have been. There was nothing to be angry at anyway. But I kinda liked being angry.

I knew I had to stop slamming things eventually. When L peered into the kitchen at me, I knew that time had come.

"Are you alright, Amy-chan?" He asked.

"No. Don't talk to me." I snapped at him. I moved to stalk past him, and out of the kitchen. But he reached out and gripped my arm.

I shook him off violently. "Don't touch me!" I all but snarled at him. I glanced once at him, taking in his startled expression, and then I continued out of the kitchen.

"What's wrong, Amy?" Matsuda asked, looking up at me.

"Nothing!" I tried to control my voice, but I couldn't keep it from rising just a bit. I looked away from the men, even though only Matsuda and L were showing any interest in me. My feet carried me quickly toward the window seat, where I planned to brood for a while.

L followed me. "Nothing, or something…?" He asked softly. (A/N: xD Invader Zim quote.)

I turned to see that he had an extremely thoughtful look on his face. "What does that even mean?" I asked, exasperated. "Do you really want to know what's bothering me?" I lowered my tone, and my eyes.

"Yes." L said, just as softly.

I looked up at him. "It's my birthday. I'm eighteen today."

"What?!" Matsuda jumped up from the couch. "I'll be back, later!" He cried, and he dashed out the door.

I watched him leave, blinking once or twice. Then, with a slight frown, only of confusion, on my face, I looked back at the other men. L was staring at me, and Aizawa had lifted one eyebrow.

L rubbed the back of his head. "Well… Happy birthday, Amy-chan." He said slowly.

The others all wished me a happy birthday as well. I rolled my eyes and sat down on the window seat, resting my head against the glass. "Yeah, thanks…" I mumbled. I couldn't believe I was turning eighteen while in Death Note land… Did it even count, since I was in a different dimension, or whatever?

I sighed, and then turned to look around the room. At least I was eighteen now, right? I was officially an adult.

Besides, I had no idea where Matsuda had gone. Perhaps he'd rushed off to buy me a present? It was a possibility. But I didn't want to get my hopes up. So I didn't.

I simply sat watching the men work. Within an hour, Matsuda had come back.

I looked up as the door opened, and Matsuda rushed in. He bore with him a white box, with a purple ribbon tied around it. I perked up as he approached, eyeing the box.

"Happy birthday, Amy-chan!" Matsuda said, handing the box to me. It felt awfully light.

I grinned, finally getting over my angry mood. "Aw, thank you, Matsu!" I said.

I pulled gingerly at the ribbon, planning to save it to use as a head-band. Once it was off, I eagerly lifted the lid of the box. When I saw what was in it, I let my smile slip away, and I simply sat there, staring at it, my bottom lip protruding slightly.

I heard L swivel around in his chair. "What's in it, Amy-chan?" He asked.

I tilted the box so he could see inside. "Nothing…" I said, my voice half-whimper half-whisper. I looked back down at the box, and then up at Matsuda, disappointed. He was trying not to laugh.

"Just kidding!" He cried. I jumped, startled, as he shoved another package into my hands. This one was tied with blue ribbon.

I stared suspiciously at him. "Is there something in it this time?" I asked. Matsuda nodded.

I carefully opened it, still a bit mistrustful. But when I opened it, I smiled. "Wow, I cookie the size of my head. And a new book! Thank you, Matsuda!" I leapt up to hug him, accidently knocking the empty boxes to the floor.

He hugged me back, and then smiled down at me. My birthday was suddenly getting better. Not only did I have a new book to read, I had a cookie the size of my head to eat.

"Matsuda, stop messing around!" Chief Yagami said suddenly.

Matsuda lowered his head. "Sorry…" He said. He smiled once more at me before rushing back to his work.

I turned, still smiling slightly, to pick up the things I'd scattered everywhere when I jumped up. L was eyeing my cookie hungrily. I quickly rescued it from its precarious perch on the edge of the window seat.

Then I turned an evil glare on L. "If you want a piece of my cookie, all you have to do is ask." I said coldly.

L gave me a long look. For a moment I half-expected him to ask for a piece of the cookie. But then he turned back to his computer. I looked at him for a moment, and then I shrugged, and sat down.

Minutes later, L stood up again. I looked up at him, watching curiously as he started toward the door. He was in his usual hunched posture, his hands shoved deep into his pockets. And… strangely enough, he was wearing shoes. I'd only seen him wear shoes when he was going to the college.

So, naturally, I assumed that's where he was going.

And where did that leave me?

Free to wander around at will. Free to simply sit and read. Free to… steal L's cake…?

I quickly squashed that last idea. With the cookie the size of my head, that was plenty enough sweet stuff for at least a week. I was surprised that I hadn't put on more weight, seeing as I ate almost nothing but sweet stuff, and I was hardly ever outside.

I sat for a moment, staring at my cookie, and then I stood up. "I'm going outside." I announced to the room in general. "I'll be back… later..."

It took no time at all to put on shoes, and a sweater. The weather outside was rather chilly…

"Bye!" I called as I closed the door behind me.

I actually felt really weird just walking out of the hotel like that. The outside world had been forbidden to me for so long, it was like a miracle just to be able to go out side now. It was actually a bit frightening, stepping outside, unaccompanied, for the first time in weeks. That's not to say I didn't enjoy it. The only problem was, if I got lost, that would be bad.

I decided to just walk around the block really quick. A walk around the block, if I did it every day, would help to keep me from getting fat. At least, I hoped it would. I had never been fond of physical exercise. But, at least I'd always been able to keep in shape. Mostly…

My walk ended up lasting longer than I had anticipated. I stopped to look in the window of a huge clothing store, where they had some really cute dresses on display. Usually I wasn't one to wear dresses, but I liked looking at them. When I finally continued on my way, it was only to stop and stare in the window of a bakery.

The cakes were fantastic! There was one with six layers, and silver roses. I giggled as I imagined L's face if he were to go in there. For a little, I entertained the idea of buying something. But I had no cash, and besides… Everything was bound to be extremely expensive.

So I went on my way. But, with several more stops, my walk lasted at least an hour. I hardly noticed the time pass. It was so nice to be outside again.

When I finally got back to the hotel, I was tired, but happy. The bad mood I'd been in earlier was completely gone.

That was only until I got up to the hotel room.

To keep myself in a 'get in shape' state of mind, I took the stairs. I was regretting it by the time I finally got to the right floor. My legs were shaking beneath me, as though they didn't want to hold me up any more. I hadn't been so exhausted in a long time. But I had a book, and a cookie the size of my head, waiting for me at home.

My mind flicked idly toward the thought I'd just thought. Home…

I'd never referred to the hotel as home, before. Although six weeks was a pretty long time to spend with anyone, or any where, I had not considered the hotel my home. Ever. For one thing, I just never really felt at home there. I always had L acting as though I didn't exist. And it just didn't feel like home…

Except…

Where else did I have?

What other place did I have to call home?

My musings were cut short as I went to open the door to our hotel suite. It wouldn't open. I tried again, and got the same result. Apparently, the door was locked. For a split second I stared at the door, a frown on my face. Then I knocked. Someone had to be inside.

No one came to the door, though. I knocked again, and again, until finally, I decided no one was there. "Well, crap…" I sighed, sitting down, and resting my back against the wall.

I couldn't get into the hotel suite, and I had nothing to do. I was stuck in the hall for who knows how long. And that was making my bad mood come back. Eventually I let my head rest against the wall with a thump. And then, because it felt good, I did it again. So I ended up sitting against the wall, banging my head against it repeatedly, wishing that someone would come let me in.

But no one came.

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Hai, people! Guess what! Oh, wait, you already know: Andy updated again. :D It's about time, too. I mean, seriously. The only exscuse I have is the fact that my insperation was killed. Life has been so crazy, and busy as of late, y'know? I did update, though, and I've got chapter seventeen in the works, so hopefully I'll get my insperation back, and update quicker. Thanks for reading, guys, and never ever ever forget to review!


	15. Chapter 15

Away From Home

Chapter Fifteen

By Andruindel

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It was dark by the time someone finally came.

I had long since stopped banging my head against the wall, and let my eyes drop closed. If I was going to be sitting there for hours, I might as well rest. That was the reasoning behind my decision. Pretty dumb reasoning, but reasoning, none-the-less.

I was awakened when someone poked me with their foot. Opening my eyes and looking around, I realized that I had fallen asleep. I hadn't intended to fall asleep. Just rest for a while, while I waited. But, apparently walking up all those stairs had been more exhausting than I'd thought.

I looked up, and L was there above me, in his usual slouched posture, staring at me.

"Hey," I said, running a hand through my hair. "Where've you been all day?"

L blinked once. "I was working." He replied evasively. "Would you mind moving, so I can open the door…?"

It took a moment for me to realize what he meant. Of course, once I did, I stood up shaking my head to try and wake myself up. I watched L open the door, and then followed him inside, still half-asleep.

He was silent as he went toward the kitchen, and I followed. He didn't seem to want to talk. Which was understandable, seeing as he was L. Personally, I didn't want to talk either. I was tired, and grumpy from having slept in the hall for who knows how long. I still didn't know why no one had been there, either.

I watched L for a moment before deciding that I didn't want to be among people, even if it was only one person. Once I had decided that, I went to the work room, where I artfully stole a pad of paper, and a pencil. Then I sat down in my favorite corner.

I stared at the paper, tapping the pencil against my knee. My mind was far away. Or rather… I had delved deep within my own mind, which I had not done for a long time. I hardly noticed when L came into the work room. I had started writing.

For almost an entire hour I wrote, sometimes erasing things, sometimes just sitting and thinking before jotting down a word or two. By the time I was done, I was mentally exhausted. I hadn't explored my own thoughts in so long, it was like a whole new world to me.

I set down my pencil, once I was done, and sat back to read what I had written. It consisted of this:

_Illusion_

_Draw me in_

_Thou net of safety_

_Give my mind the peace_

_It yearns for._

_Thy folds of pain_

_Masked by false hope_

_Soothe the wounds_

_That I long bore._

_Free my spirit_

_Numb my mind, my soul_

_To all the pain_

_To all the fear._

_I can not take_

_Much more of this_

_The things I think_

_The things I hear._

_The burdens mine_

_The torture thine_

_Give me rest_

_Give peace to me._

_Draw me in_

_Thou net of safety_

_Thou art an illusion_

_Yet thy betrayal is invisible_

_To me_

Surprised at my own words, I stared at the poem. It was… interesting. And slightly frightening. It was so weird, writing a poem again after so long. I wasn't a big poetry person any way, but sometimes poetry was the only way I could express myself.

"What are you writing, Amy-chan?"

I looked up, and realized that L was watching me, and had most likely been doing so for a while. He had finished whatever he'd been eating, or drinking, or whatever. Now he was staring at me, his head tipped slightly to one side.

I flushed, and looked away. "Just a poem…" I replied lightly, trying to hide my poem out of sight. But L was far too nosy.

"May I read it?" He inquired innocently.

I considered. I almost never let people read what I wrote. Most of it was personal, a clearer window into my soul than anything else. But sometimes, I would let someone see what I'd written, either because I honestly wanted to share it, or because they honestly wanted to read it. Now was one of those times when someone honestly wanted to read something I'd written.

"I guess…" I said slowly, and I stood up to hand the pad of paper to L. As soon as he had it, I fled to my room, lest I have to sit there and watch while he read it.

I paced restlessly around my room until I thought L might have finished reading it, then I went and peered into the work room. L was still sitting on the couch, but the paper was on the table before him, and he had gotten himself a cup of tea.

I slipped quietly into the room, and sat down on the couch across from L. He glanced up at me before looking back down at the paper.

"Your writing shows an inquisitive, clever mind." He commented.

I blushed with pleasure. That was possibly the first compliment he'd ever given me. "Thank you," I replied. I picked up the pad of paper, tore off the paper with my poem on it, folded it, and put it in my pocket, all while not looking at L.

The room was quiet for a bit, but I didn't mind. My thoughts were on the poem I'd written. Sometimes, I didn't think my writing was a true reflection of my feelings at the time. I just wrote whatever came to mind. But, at the same time, there was meaning behind it.

"Is… Is that how you feel, Amy?" L asked after a bit.

I looked up at him. "What do you mean?" I asked.

L met my eyes evenly, in that unblinking stare of his. It was kind of creepy, when I thought about it. "Your poem describes a situation of utter hopelessness, a situation where false hope and false protection must be found, and used to offer some source of security. Is that how you feel?"

I thought for a minute or two. "Not really…" I said. "It's just… what came out of the pencil while I was writing." I shrugged, unable to explain it any more than that.

"Ah…"

We were quiet again, until L spoke once more. "Why were you in the hall when I got here…?"

"Oh… Because I went for a walk, and when I got back no one was… home." I'd used that word again. Why did I keep using that word to refer to the hotel suite? Did I actually feel that it was my home now? I didn't want to think so… But somehow, I think I did.

I was hardly finished musing when L broke into my thoughts. "Forgive me, Amy… Chief Yagami collapsed today, and everyone left early, after ensuring that he was okay. I forgot about you…"

Now that I knew the circumstances, I hardly cared that I'd been left outside. "You mean… It wasn't Kira, then?" I asked anxiously.

L shook his head. "No. He merely over-worked himself."

I sighed. "Good…" I mumbled. I wasn't fond of Chief Yagami, but still… I would have been sad if he'd died. Of course, now I knew what was going on. L had been at the college all day, playing tennis with Light.

That could only mean one thing…

Soon enough, Light was going to come into my life.

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Oh my goodness. This chapter is kinda boring. ;-; I'm running out of insperationg. Kinda. I did finish chapter seventeen. Hopefully I'll be able to finish chapter eighteen soon. Oh, and, just for you people who are waiting for an appearance by Light, it's coming in chapter eighteen. Just though I'd let you know. Don't forget to review!

Note: I did actually write that poem. I'd appreciate it if no one stole it!


	16. Chapter 16

Away From Home

Chapter sixteen

By Andruindel

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A day or two later, the men, minus Chief Yagami, were all working on the Kira case, and I was sitting silently in my corner. My eyes rested, not on Matsuda, but L. Usually I would have been watching Matsuda, my strange infatuation with the man keeping my attention riveted on him.

However…

For a reason I could not explain, my eyes were on L. And I was openly admiring him. I found myself wondering how no one could have noticed.

Only when L's gaze flickered in my direction did I tear my eyes away from him, blushing a bit. For the last six weeks I'd thought I had a bit of a crush on Matsuda. And I still did. But now…

Did I like L?

I shook my head, clearing away the ridiculous thought. Even if I did like L, there was no way he'd ever be interested in me. He was… I did a quick calculation on my fingers. He was six years older than me! How could someone like him ever be interested in someone like me?

Reassured, but at the same time disappointed, I looked back up. The discussion going on was too… too weird for me to follow. I never did understand what the men were talking about as they worked. Only at fleeting moments, like when they had mentioned Ray Penber, did I know what was going on.

My attention was reverted to the door as Watari stepped in. "Ryuuzaki, something seems to be happening on Sakura TV."

Everyone immediately turned their attention to the TV, as L switched it on. Seeing as everyone else was gathering around the TV, I got up, and followed suite, placing myself behind L, who sat in his chair before the TV.

"In other words, all the reporters and staff here are Kira's hostages…"

I was instantly alert. I had a vague idea of what was going on. Ever since I'd learned that Light and L had played tennis, and since Chief Yagami had collapsed, I'd known, vaguely, where I was time-wise. Now, however, I knew exactly what was going on. This was where Misa came in for the first time.

I felt helpless as I watched the proceedings. I knew what was going on. I knew the innermost workings of Misa's plan, and of Light's. But who could tell how they would react to my knowing what was going on.

All I could do was stand and watch, gripping the back of L's chair hard as I listened to the tape they played. My knees felt weak as Misa predicted the first murder. This was so much different from watching the anime in my own home. I was there, and as far as I was concerned, this was completely real. I felt sick to my stomach suddenly, and moved closer to Matsuda, to grip his arm.

Matsuda glanced down at me, his eyes hard, and serious. But I had focused my eyes on the TV again by now, and I watched, horrified, as the tape continued playing.

Again, the channel was changed, and we saw that Misa's prediction had come true. My stomach churned, but as L spoke, with a hint of sadness in his voice, I looked to him. I couldn't see his face, because his hair was in the way, but he looked completely calm. How could he stay so calm in such a situation?

I jumped as L straightened up, and said to stop the broadcast. I should have known it was coming, but under current circumstances, I was feeling rather faint, and I could hardly be blamed. Matsuda jumped to the phone, and Aizawa reached for his cell phone. But it wasn't going to work. I still remembered that much.

Looking from L, to Matsuda, and then around the room at the others, I shared their hopelessness. What could I do to stop it? Obviously, nothing. But as Ukita swore, and ran for the door, I realized, maybe, even if I couldn't stop anything else from happening, maybe I could keep Ukita safe.

"Wait!" I cried as Ukita opened the door. "You can't go out there!"

But I was too late. I gripped the back of L's chair again, feeling as though my legs were about to collapse underneath me. Everyone was too busy watching the television to notice though.

What was I supposed to do? I couldn't just sit there and watch people die around me. I'd been sent to Death note land with a purpose. I was sure of that now. But so far, all I'd done was fail. Ukita was going to die, and there was nothing I could do about it.

My stomach clenched painfully as my mind turned to L. L was going to die eventually too, unless I could do something to prevent it. I turned my gaze onto him, watching as he bit his thumb nail agitatedly. Although outwardly calm, I knew this turn of events was probably tearing at him worse than it was at me.

By the time I turned my attention back onto the TV, Misa was talking about the new world she wanted to construct, a world that is free from evil.

"Crap…" I whispered to myself. "Complete crap."

"I will create a new world that we can all enjoy." I rolled my eyes at the TV screen, wrapping my arms around myself. "Say goodbye to the world as you know it."

I sighed, surprised at how it came out shuddery. I was feeling unsteady on my feet, and, I realized suddenly, I was shaking. "I already said goodbye to the world I knew…" I muttered to myself, leaning against the couch to steady myself.

Matsuda and Aizawa were still trying frantically to get a hold of someone. They were failing, miserably. But, the three of us were distracted, the two men from the phones, and me from the TV, when, on one of the smaller TVs, the news switched to live, outside Sakura TV. My eyes went wide as I took in the scene.

"Damn it!" I whispered under my breath. I should have been expecting it.

But things were so much different when I was there, and when it was real. Ukita wasn't just some guy in an anime any more. He was some guy I'd been hanging around with, no matter how distantly, for more than six weeks now.

I stumbled away from the couch, my knees finally giving out on me. No one noticed as I fell to the floor. I was too busy being horrified to care.

"As you can see, someone has collapsed just outside the door." The woman reporter stated. I couldn't see the picture anymore, but I could still hear.

My reaction hadn't been any more shocked than Aizawa's. And Matsuda seemed more traumatized than I was. He was sad that he'd lost both a friend and I co-worker. I was sad simply because Misa had taken an innocent, human life.

I had to move quickly out of the way as Aizawa started for the door. The pure grief in Matsuda's voice had prompted me to move, anyway. But both Aizawa and I froze as L spoke.

"Where are you going?"

"Where do you think? I've gotta go there."

I wanted to cry out, scream at him that if he went there, he'd die too, but L beat me to speaking. "You can't. Please, think about this rationally."

I certainly wasn't thinking rationally. I was hardly thinking at all. I was standing, numb and shocked, staring at L. How could he remain so calm? Matsuda and Aizawa were obviously at a loss of what to do. I felt exactly the same. Their conversation slipped right past me, without my noticing what exactly they were saying.

Pretty much, all I heard were the tones of their voices: L's, calm and thoughtful, Aizawa's, angry and bitter, and Matsuda's, scared, and hopeless.

I snapped out of my shocked state only when Aizawa grabbed L roughly by the shoulder, trying to make the man look at him. But L wouldn't look at him. His face was completely hidden by his hair. And yet…

He wasn't so calm after all. It was all just an act. He had gripped his leg tightly, and was shaking. He too, had been affected by Ukita's death. His words a moment later proved it.

Overcome, and feeling as though the world was going completely insane, I reached for Matsuda's hand. He looked down at me, but I merely rested my head against his shoulder, still gazing silently at L. It was one of those times where I just needed physical contact to reassure myself. I wasn't alone, and that simple touch was enough to confirm that, and set my mind some-what at ease.

"I.. I can't take this any more." I said softly. I squeezed Matsuda's hand tightly before letting go, and starting toward my room.

Before I'd gotten three paces L stopped me. "Amy."

I turned back, now curious despite myself.

"I can not allow you out of my sight. Stay."

Feeling remarkably like a dog, I settled onto the couch, and curled into a ball, my back to the world. I could still hear the TV, despite everything I did to try to prevent it. I heard the reporter claim that two police officers had just collapsed. And then, I heard the startled exclamation that someone had just driven a bus into the building. That would be Chief Yagami…

Still trying to block out the sound, I stayed where I was, closing my eyes tightly. I couldn't understand why L would want me there. I'd been out of his sight, technically, almost all day. Why would he suddenly decide to keep me in sight?

It didn't really make sense.

After what felt a life time, the TV's were turned off. I remained in the same position, although now I opened my eyes. The door opened, and Chief Yagami, accompanied by Watari, arrived. Chief Yagami gave L the videos, and L thanked him. I sighed, and closed my eyes again as the talk fell to whispers. I couldn't hear what was being said, so I didn't bother listening.

What seemed like seconds later, I opened my eyes again. I must have fallen asleep without realizing. The reason I'd woken was clear. Someone had picked me up, and was carrying me to my room. I blinked once, staring up at the man holding me. It was L…

That fact bothered me more than it should have. But at the moment, sleep was all I cared about. I settled back into L's arms, closing my eyes again, barely aware of being set on my bed a minute later.

In fact, I'd been so half asleep; I barely remembered that brief flash of reality the next morning. I had much more important things to think about the next morning, anyway.

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Mwahahahaha! -evil laugh- I've finally updated again! I'm on some-what of a normal updating rate again. Cheers? Andy is sick right now, which really sucks, because it's almost Christmas. But, I took a little time out of my day to worry about all you people who were wondering when I'd be updating. =3 I'm not sure how pleased I am with this chapter. All I know is, I had to watch the episode a million times just to get things right. It was torture. Thanks for reading, and don't forget to review! (Don't lose the review button, either.) Merry Christmas to all you out there who celebrate! -waves- And to those who don't, uhm.. Seasons Greetings? Farewell!


	17. Chapter 17

Away From Home

Chapter Seventeen

By Andruindel

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It hurt to move when I next woke up. I groaned as I flipped onto my back, and stretched. Every muscle in my body screamed in protest as I struggled to sit up, and my head was aching. There was no doubt about it, I thought as I flopped back into bed: I was sick. For a minute I was consumed by the surrealism of it all. I'd been in Death Note land for nearly two months, and I had not once felt as terrible as I did now. Being sick again was so disorienting, I could only lay there and stare at the ceiling, cursing anything that came to mind.

I cringed as someone knocked at my door. The normally ordinary noise was so loud that it made my head throb. Seeing as it took too much effort to form a coherent sentence, I pulled my blanket over my head, and grunted as loudly as I could.

"Amy? Are you okay?"

Again, I merely groaned in response. Apparently Matsuda, who was the one outside my door, took that as a sign that I was not okay. I heard the door open, and then felt my weight shift as Matsuda sat down on the bed beside me. Gently, so gently in fact that I didn't even think of resisting, he pulled the covers away from my face.

"You okay?" He asked again.

I didn't need to act, as I put on my best puppy face. I felt pitiful enough. "I'm sick, Matsu…" I replied.

Matsuda looked suitably concerned. "I'm sorry, Amy-chan!" He cried. I winced at the volume of his voice. "Do you think you can get up? We're checking out today."

I sat up, putting a hand to my head. "I guess…" I muttered. It took so much effort to climb out of bed that I almost gave up. But Matsuda wouldn't let me. He pulled me to my feet, and steadied me as I swayed on the spot. The light streaming in through the partially open curtains was painful.

"If you go back to bed, I'll shoot you, Amy." Matsuda threatened me as he went back to the door. "I'll be back in ten minutes, and I expect to see you dressed, and presentable."

"Whatever…" I mumbled as he left, closing the door rather loudly behind him. Slowly, carefully, and resenting every inch of my body for the pain it was causing me, I got dressed, and brushed my hair.

I hardly felt presentable as I opened my door several minutes later. Matsuda was just coming to get me. He smiled at me, and I attempted to return it. My attempt failed epically. He seemed to understand, though, and didn't press the matter. What he did was put his arm around my shoulders, and support me as we went into the work room.

Everything had been put back to normal. I'd forgotten that L frequently changed hotels. Curse the universe, or the gods or whatever, for making today of all days the day he would check out of the hotel. I narrowed my eyes as I entered the blinding brightness.

"What's wrong, Amy?"

I was shocked when L addressed me. L never bothered paying enough attention to me to realize when I wasn't feeling good. I turned a rather grumpy gaze on him, resigned not to answer his question. Matsuda answered for me.

"Amy's not feeling good." He said. "Actually," I shivered as he touched a hand to my face. His hands were like ice. "I think she's got a fever."

Great… That explained the insane dreams I'd been having…

L tipped his head to one side, and took several steps nearer to me. "Oh…" He said quietly. I felt half-asleep on my feet, as though I could lay down anywhere and go to sleep. Of course, I could do that anyway… "I'm sorry to hear that…" L went on.

I lifted an eyebrow incredulously at him. Since when did L care so much? No one else, aside from Matsuda of course, seemed to care about me at all. Aizawa sure didn't.

Then again…

I shuddered as I recalled the events of the previous night. Ukita had been killed by Misa, not even twenty four hours ago. Matsuda, mistaking my shudder of disgust for a shiver, pulled me closer. I almost didn't want him to; he was so warm. But it still felt nice to be cared about.

It seemed to take ages for us to reach the other hotel. And then, it took another age or two to get up to the right floor. I was feeling so miserable at this point, that I didn't even care about the elevator ride. All I cared about was getting to the hotel suite, where I could collapse and die. It's not like anyone would have cared.

Matsuda cared though, I reminded myself.

He cared enough to see that I was barely able to stand up at the moment. He cared enough to scoop me into his arms and carry me the rest of the way to the hotel suite. He even cared enough to carry me to the room I'd been assigned. No one else cared. Not even L.

I was asleep by the time my head hit the pillow.

-----

_"Amy, why do you have to do things like that?"_

_I looked up from the paper I'd been intently studying. L stood over me, his thumb in his mouth, like usual. His eyes met mine fixedly. It was all I could do to keep from looking away._

_"What did I do?" I asked evasively. I turned back to the paper, gnawing the end of my pencil nervously. I'd been in the middle of writing something when L had interrupted me. Now I couldn't remember what I'd been about to write._

_My attention was reverted back to L when he grabbed me roughly by the arm, and pulled me out of my chair. I swallowed, looking up at the dark-haired man. He was so much taller than me; I'd never noticed before just how tall he was. His eyes were hooded as he gazed down at me. No amount of mischief was visible in his eyes. I hadn't expected any, of course._

_"Don't pretend you don't know…" He hissed at me. I was having trouble breathing now. L had drawn so close to me, we were almost touching. He stared at me for a minute, but I had no idea how to answer him. I didn't even know what I'd done to upset him. _

_A sly smirk played across L's mouth. The effect was frightening, at first. He pulled me even closer, holding me in place with an arm around my waist. I couldn't have moved even if I'd wanted to. Who said I wanted to?_

_I gasped as he leaned closer; as I felt his breath against my cheek. _

I woke suddenly to blinding light. Throwing an arm up to shield my eyes from the light, I let out an irritated 'rawr', drawing it out until I felt sure whoever had disturbed me realized that they had invoked the wrath of Amy.

"Why must you constantly bother me?" I inquired out loud, though I wasn't expecting an answer. "Why is it that every time I finally get some time to myself, someone has to come and ruin it?!"

Whoever was in my room knew enough to tell when I was nearing the point of no return. I was just about to swing into full rant-mode, when whoever the person was clamped a hand over my mouth.

"Sorry, Amy. I didn't think you would wake up."

I had stiffened at the initial contact. It was almost instinct. But as soon as Matsuda's voice reached my ears, I relaxed, and peered at him from beneath my arm. He smiled lightly at me. At that instant, I realized how sad he looked, even when he smiled. Ukita had just died the night before, I reminded myself. And here I was complaining that I always got woken up.

Suitably chastened, I watched as Matsuda closed the curtains again.

"Since you're awake…" Matsuda started, turning to me again. "Watari's going to bring some lunch up. Do you want anything?"

My reply was instant. "Ice cream. Plain chocolate ice cream." I said.

Matsuda smiled at me again. "Okay, I'll make sure you get your ice cream." He said.

As he started for the door, a sudden thought struck me. "Thank you!" I called after him. I wasn't sure if he heard me, but at least I'd said it. I'd been forgetting my "P's and Q's" as of late… I would fix that.

For a while I entertained the thought of going back to sleep. But now that I was awake, that proved impossible. I lay there for another few minutes, shivering, and aching, but I couldn't go to sleep. I had too much on my mind. So, shaking with the effort, I got out of bed, and left the room.

The work room was brightly lit. I pulled my hood up, shielding my eyes from at least some of the light. Aizawa, L, Matsuda and Chief Yagami were all sitting on the couches and chairs in the room. There was an empty chair, but, as I considered it, I realized that Ukita would have been sitting there, had he still been alive. I shivered.

No, there was no way I was sitting there.

Instead, I settled on the floor by one of the couches, resting against Matsuda's legs. I curled into a ball, still shivering, still resenting the world. Matsuda's hand rested lightly on my head for an instant, and I leaned back into the contact, glad that at least he cared. L hadn't even looked at me as I sat down.

My eyes drifted closed, and I ended up dosing again.

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The funny thing is: I was actually sick as I wrote this. Ironic, or maybe just cooincidental. Anywayz... Uhm... Thanks for reading, and again, don't forget to review. Your reviews, while they may not be replied to all the time (I've been meaning to start replying to reviews again, but I never find the time), are greatly appreciated, and bring much amusement to me. And an amused Andy is an Andy willing to write more, haha.


	18. Chapter 18

Away From Home

Chapter Eighteen

By Andruindel

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"Thank you, Light."

"Not at all. After all, I want to catch Kira as much as you do, Ryuga."

That was not what I wanted to wake up to. Ever. Waking up to Light's voice was not something I enjoyed. It was about as pleasant as waking to find that a nightmare I'd had, a nightmare that was truly terrifying, had become real. No, it was worse than that. It was like waking up to find that the person I most dreaded meeting was standing barely three feet away from me.

I struggled to open my eyes, hoping against hope that I was dreaming. Anything was possible, right? Hoping, praying that my mind was playing a cruel trick on me, I sat up, squinting against the bright light.

Against every prayer I had uttered silently in the last five seconds, I saw that it was indeed Light's voice that I had heard. I swallowed hard, against the raw pain in my throat, and sank back down onto the couch with a groan. It took a moment for the fact that I was lying on the couch to register in my brain. At some point during my fever-induced sleep, someone had moved me to the couch sitting against the wall – I assumed so I would not be in their way- and placed a blanket over me. I didn't recognize the blanket. I wondered where it had come from.

No one seemed to notice that I was awake. At any rate, L and Light kept talking. I listened, drifting in and out of consciousness, as the others introduced themselves to Light, and then as L led Light toward the TV. Alerted by the movement, I let my eyes follow them. I hadn't expected Light to glance sharply at me. For a split second, as my eyes met his, I couldn't breath. I was looking right at Kira. But as suddenly as he had looked at me, he looked away, and continued listening to L. I closed my eyes again, swallowing despite the pain in my throat. I didn't want to have to look at Light again. Not yet, anyway.

Eventually, I felt my weight shift slightly as someone leaned against the couch.

"How're you feeling, Amy?"

Matsuda... It was just like him to check on my like this. A wry smile tugged at my lips as I squinted up at him.

"I feel pretty crappy..." I muttered. Nothing could have been truer. I did feel crappy. My entire body ached, and my throat was sore. The sunlight streaming through the window sent pain tearing through my head, even though I was squinting to try and prevent it, and the sheer curtains were drawn, too. Of all the insane ways to get a head-ache…

"Who's here?" I inquired, feigning ignorance. It would never do to let them know I knew who Light was. Especially if I decided to tell them that Light was Kira.

Matsuda smiled lightly. "Light, Chief Yagami's son." He replied lightly.

I nodded once, and then stopped because my head was pounding. "Where'd the blanket come from?" I asked. As I looked closer at the blanket, I notice the pattern. It was covered in music notes. I couldn't keep from smiling. Music had been a big part of my life for years. It made me feel closer to home to have the music note blanket over me. I pulled the blanket up and buried my face in it as Matsuda answered.

"Ryuuzaki sent Watari to get it." He replied lightly. "He wasn't sure if you'd like the pattern, but I think it's kinda pretty."

I smiled again, lowering the blanket and tracing one of the music notes with a finger. "I like it…" I said slowly. And then I looked up and around. "How long was I asleep?" I asked.

Matsuda shrugged. "A few hours. And, by the way, Ryuuzaki made me promise to make you take some Tylenol or something. It'll reduce the fever."

I grimaced, but then sighed. "Fine. If it'll make me feel better." I gave in. The chills that had plagued me for most of the day were terrible. I hated being sick in general. But fevers were the worst of all sicknesses. Matsuda seemed to agree with me on that point. At least, his sympathy was sincere.

Normally, Matsuda's movements were quick, enthusiastic, and rather startling at best. More than once I'd been drowsing, only to jump a foot out of my chair when Matsuda made a sudden move. The others were more… calm in their movements. None of them ever made sudden movements, especially L. But, as I watched Matsuda carefully carrying a glass of water to me, I realized that even he could be conscious of the speed of his movements.

On the other hand, Matsuda was always gentle. He was even soft-spoken, unlike the others on the task force. My mind flicked idly toward thoughts of L at this point, and I couldn't stop a smile from crossing my face. There certainly were a lot of differences between L and Matsuda. Matsuda was loud and obnoxious at times, but he was always kind, and gentle, and caring. And he never said anything hurtful, at least not that I knew of. L on the other hand… He was so different, so outlandishly weird; it was hard to describe him.

My train of thought took a detour as Matsuda handed me the glass of water, and two Tylenols. With a grimace, I downed the pills, one at a time, and then gulped the rest of the water. I wished I hadn't, because it just served to hurt my throat. Handing the glass back to Matsuda, I smiled as he ruffled my hair before leaving to put it away.

"Thanks, Matsu…" I murmured. I was still sleepy, despite having slept for a few hours. Plus the few hours before that. That was the worst part about being sick. I slept so damn much, and missed a day, or sometimes days, of my life, wasted them lying around. However, even though I was sleepy, I couldn't go back to sleep at the moment. Even when I was sick, my body could only handle so much sleep at a time. And besides, there was no way I was going back to sleep with Light around.

Instead, I curled up on the couch, resting my head against the arm so I could keep an eye on Light and the others. For a moment the others stood watching Light as L explained his task to him. He was supposed to watch the videos; those cursed videos of Misa's. I could feel anger mounting, and quickly took a deep breath to try and stop it. I had more important things to do: like making sure L remained safe, as safe as could be expected any way, while Light stood barely a foot away from him.

From my vantage point, I could clearly see Light's face. I focused mainly on him, as he watched the video's, and found myself repulsed. When I'd first started watching the anime, I'd found him attractive. Even now, I realized that he was actually really cute. But the fact that I was staring straight at Kira was terrifying enough to over-ride that. I was staring at L's eventual killer.

I'd never stopped blaming Light for L's death. Even though people insisted it was Rem's fault, because she was the one who actually did it. It was Light's fault. I would never stop blaming him…

I swallowed, forgetting for a moment my sore throat. But I remembered as soon as I had swallowed. I still felt pretty crappy, but, I realized, I was no longer shivering. I was pleasantly warm, and for a moment I let myself relax, snuggling deeper under the blanket. My eyes fell on Matsuda, and then I looked at L. He was watching Light, but as my gaze fell on him, his eyes swept up and met mine.

I smiled.

For a few seconds L continued to stare at me. I stared right back, trying to communicate how exactly I felt about Light's presence. I hated having Light so near me. Especially when I wasn't exactly sure what my presence meant to him. So far he didn't seem to care, or even show any curiosity toward me at all. He knew I was there. But he didn't seem to care.

It made me nervous, in all honesty.

"So, what do you make of this, Light? Have you come to any conclusions?"

It made me uncomfortable to have to watch L approach Light. He had no idea who Light was. Sure, he suspected him. And from my experience in watching the anime, I suspected that he had known all along that Light was Kira. But no one else believed him. I wanted to scream at them that Light was Kira. But I remained silent, watching L.

L and Light stared at each other for a moment. I fancied for a moment that I could see Light's frustration. But the only visible sign he gave was digging his fingers into the arm of the chair; it was only my imagination, a result of having watched the anime.

"It's hard to tell for sure, but it looks like there might be another person out there with Kira's power." Light finally responded as he pulled himself to his feet. I pulled in a quick breath, for his movement had brought Light even closer to L. There was no doubt in my mind that, given the chance, Light would kill L then and there.

That was when I realized. It was my job, my obligation, to make sure L didn't die. I was not going to leave L's side; I would never leave him and Light alone, if I could help it. It was probably unnecessary, seeing as I knew the exact time that L would die. But still… it would make me feel better, at least. And I might even be able to figure out a way to save him, in the end.

"With Kira's power?" Chief Yagami seemed shocked. I turned my eyes to him for a moment, registering his look of total surprise. "But, what do you mean by that, Light?"

I grimaced. Chief Yagami loved Light. And he had no idea what his son was going to become. I had never really liked Chief Yagami. But things had changed since my arrival in Death note land. Now, I found that I pitied him. He was too blind to see that his son was Kira…

"At the very least," Light replied. I hated the way he could remain so calm, despite working in such close proximities with L, his enemy. "I'd say these videos were not made by the Kira we're familiar with. It's extremely out of character for him to use these kinds of victims for his killings."

I nearly laughed. Indeed, I had to struggle to prevent it. I had just realized that everyone assumed Kira was a guy. They never said 'she'. They always referred to Kira as 'he'. Why was that? I was curious now, but Light's presence made me nervous. Too nervous to speak. I held my silence, and hoped to catch L alone later on, so I could ask him.

For now, I turned my attention back to the discussion at hand. I was anxious to hear what else was said. I didn't want to be caught unawares if I ever had to voice my suspicions about Light.

"And since we've established that he needs a name and face to kill, it makes you wonder how he was able to kill that detective and those two officers right outside the television station like that." Light continued. He was being smart again. Too smart for his own good, I thought. But, then again, he was a genius.

Too bad he'd end up the biggest mass murderer of all time. He'd already killed a lot of people.

I watched as everyone uttered exclamations of surprise. They obviously thought Light was a genius too. Honestly, when I compared the two and their appearances, Light looked the part more than L did. I watched them closely, listening as they talked. Personally, I believed any theory L came up with. That may have been foolish, especially if he'd been the kind of person to make up stupid theories. But, as it was, he wasn't. So it was that much easier to believe his theories.

I flinched when L suggested that Light play the part of the 'real Kira'. The irony –if it really was irony, I'd always had a hard time understanding the idea of irony – was killing me.

"Me, as Kira…?" Light asked.

"Yes, you're the only one I can think of who can pull something like this off…"

I couldn't help it. I broke into laughter. Everyone, including L, looked in my direction. I could only pull the blanket up and over my head, my face burning from embarrassment. It wasn't my fault. They had no idea how funny that had been for me. Of course Light was the only one who could pull something like that off.

He _was _the real Kira!

I waited for several minutes, until they started talking again, and then, drawing as little attention to myself as possible, I stood up, still with the blanket over my head, and started toward my room. I had a feeling that at least one of them was watching me. But I just fled as quickly as possible to the relative safety of my room.

I was still planning on asking L why people referred to Kira as 'he'. But I was going to wait until everyone else went home first.

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-insert evil laugh here- Yes, I finally updated! -cheers- It's been a while. I hit a little thing called Writer's Block. But I think it's gone for now. As you can see, Light made his appearance. Finally. And, as you can also see, Amy's going insane. I think someone should comment on her lack of surprise in any given situation... Since she knows what's going on, it makes sense that she wouldn't be surprised, right? So someone should notice and be like 'Why aren't you ever surprised?!'. Anyway... I think I'm rambling... O_O Review, please?


	19. Chapter 19

Away From Home

Chapter Nineteen

By Andruindel

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As it was, I didn't see L alone until late that night.

I ended up spending the rest of the day lurking in my room, peering out every so often at L and the others. I hadn't forgotten my vow to protect L, and figure out a way to save him in the end. But at the moment I was just too nervous to go out and associate with Light.

Only when the others left for home did I venture out of my room.

Even then, it was only to get a bowl of ice cream. I'd been wishing for ice cream all day, and had only recently remembered that I'd asked for Watari to bring me some. I gave myself a few minutes to brush my hair again, and pull the blanket L had gotten for me around my shoulders like a cloak.

L and Light were still working together in the workroom. I sent a worried glance in L's direction. He was sitting in his usual chair, watching as Light worked busily. He was probably writing out what he was going to say as 'Kira'.

L seemed to have been watching me. At any rate, as I looked at him, his eyes were already on me. He met my eyes for a moment, biting his thumb nail in the fashion I had grown used to. But as I went toward the kitchen, I let my eyes leave his. He would be safe, for the time being. Light was still writing.

My hands were shaking as I served myself some ice cream. It was rather annoying. That was one of the many disjointed thoughts running through my mind. Other than that, I wasn't thinking much. I was still a bit distracted, due to Light's presence.

As I left the kitchen, I paused.

Light had apparently finished writing. L was reading the paper, holding it in that odd way of his. A smile touched my lips as I observed this. For a moment I stood undecided. Should I stay there with L and Light, or go back to my room? I wasn't exactly sure if I wanted to stay, with Light around. But I decided, as I watched L reading through the paper, that I was going to stick around.

My decision was held in even higher regards when L commented on Light's wording. I glared indignantly at Light. How dare he suggest that Misa could kill L?

And yet he hid his true intentions so well, behind that light, nervous laughter. Why did he have to be so damn nice? He was too nice to be Kira. But he was. It was mind-blowing, when I thought about it.

Neither of them paid much attention to me as I settled onto the couch, well away from Light. He was across the entire room. But he still felt too close. I was scared, to say the least. He was a mass murderer, after all.

But, seeing as he paid no attention to me, I turned my attention to my ice cream. It was heavenly. Absolutely amazing, cold and smooth as I swallowed it. It didn't hurt as it went down my throat, which was a good thing.

I was just beginning to get comfortable and sleepy, curled in one corner of the couch with my empty ice cream bowl in hand, when both L and Light approached. I forced myself to open my eyes fully and sit up. Were it not for the presence of L, I would have felt extremely threatened by Light's approach. Even with L there, I could barely contain the shudder than passed down my spine. Before they could reach me, I stood up, folding my arms.

I turned my eyes onto L, hoping to communicate my uneasiness. His lips twitched in what I thought was a smile. And then he indicated Light with a tiny movement of his head.

"Amy-chan, this is Chief Yagami's son, Light."

I tipped my head to one side, looking at Light.

"Light, this is Amy."

Light smiled, and held out his hand. I smiled back at him, but did not take his hand.

"I'm sorry. I'd hate to get you sick by shaking your hand." I said, as sweetly as possible, but making sure it sounded slightly sarcastic as well. I thought I saw L frown, though not as though he were angry. It was more a confused frown, as though he couldn't see why I was being rude to Light.

I merely smiled lightly at him.

Light laughed. "Alright," He replied. He seemed unperturbed by my slight rudeness. But as I met his gaze, I shuddered. It was always his eyes that had characterized him as Kira. "Well, it was nice to meet you, Amy."

I sat back down, watching as Light moved away to start working on recording his words. With a sigh, I relaxed, sinking back into the couch, and snuggling under the blanket. But L didn't leave.

He remained standing above me, watching me.

"Here," I shoved the used ice cream bowl in his direction. "Go do something useful and put this in the sink or something."

L blinked, putting his thumb to his lips. "Why?" He asked.

"Because I'm too lazy to do it myself. And besides, I'm sick." I replied huffily. I jiggled the bowl a little, hinting that I really did want L to do something with it.

L sighed and, to my utter surprise, took it and started toward the kitchen.

A smirk crossed my face. What else could I get L to do, with the excuse that I was too sick to do it myself? I mused silently to myself for a bit, until L came back.

"It's getting late, Amy…" He said as he settled onto the couch beside me.

I sighed, and then, acting impulsively as I was apt to do while sick, I shifted position so I could press myself against L's side. He shifted a bit, but otherwise gave no reaction. So, I rested my head against his shoulder, and looked up at him.

"And?"

"You should probably go to bed."

"Why?"

"Because, you need rest."

"Why?"

"…So your body can heal more quickly."

I went quiet, dropping my eyes and considering.

"So you do care?" I asked at last, looking back up at L again.

This time, L hesitated before answering. "Of course." He replied at last.

I smiled, and then decided to figure out just how much he would do for me in my sickened condition. "In that case…" I started.

I got no further. L immediately stood up, and started to walk away.

"Hey!" I cried. "Where're you going?"

L turned slightly. "Somewhere where I won't have to listen to your demands." He replied.

I pouted. "I was just gonna ask if you'd carry me to my room." I huffed, folding my arms and looking away. "But, whatever, I'll just stay here on this lumpy, uncomfortable couch."

L sighed, and turned fully toward me. "Fine," He said shortly. "But don't get used to it."

I couldn't keep the smirk that crossed my face from appearing. I almost couldn't believe that L was actually going to carry me to my room. He gave me a moment to wrap myself in the blanket, kinda like a human burrito, and then he scooped me into his arms, with one arm under my knees, and the other supporting my back.

Content, I relaxed into his arms, linking my own around his neck, and resting my head against his shoulder. The trip to my room didn't last as long as I would have liked. And L said nothing, even when he carefully opened the door and then settled me on the bed.

For a moment, he looked at me as I sat on the bed. Sitting as I was, he towered above me. It made me feel kinda small, actually. I blinked, looking up at him, until after a few seconds, he turned to leave.

I caught his hand, and he turned back to me.

"Thanks, Ryuuzaki…" I said softly, smiling at him.

He nodded slightly, and as I let go of his hand, he left.

With a sigh, I crawled under the covers, curling into as tight a ball as possible, and shivering. The chills were back, though not as bad as before. It was a long time before I got to sleep, and when I did, I dreamed about L again.

-----

When I woke the next morning, I remembered very little about the dreams I'd had. Little disjointed flashes of them passed through my mind, only to be lost seconds later, into whatever realm forgotten dreams dwell in.

I felt much better, too. The chills were gone, and my head didn't hurt. My throat was still sore, but I felt much better than I had the previous day. I felt good enough to want to get up and take a shower.

Until I looked at the clock.

It was five thirty.

I hated waking up early. Especially when I couldn't get to sleep again. But, now that I was awake, there was no way I was getting back to sleep. I lay there for a minute, staring resentfully at the ceiling, and then I groaned and rolled out of bed.

Since I was up, I might as well go see if L had eaten all my ice cream.

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Well, this was kinda a filler chapter. And I was too lazy to finish the rest of it, which is why it ended in a kinda random spot... So you get to see more Amy random-ness in the next chapter. And then hopefully we'll get back to the serious part. I've honestly been too lazy to watch the anime over and over, so that's the reason behind the lack of serious stuff. =/ It's not my fault, okay? I've just been really tired and lazy recently. Either way, thanks for reading, and review, please!


	20. Chapter 20

Away From Home

Chapter Twenty

By Andruindel

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"Amy, what are you doing up?"

I wasn't surprised to find that L was awake, and sitting in his usual chair. The dark circles under his eyes seemed darker than usual. In fact, it looked as though he had gotten no sleep at all.

Ignoring his question, I took a detour away from the kitchen, and approached him. "Have you been out here all night?" I asked. I stopped a foot or two from his chair. I gazed at him, serious, worried despite myself. I'd never seen him look so exhausted.

He nodded in reply to my question, but said nothing. Instead, he looked away.

"Did you get any sleep at all?" I inquired softly. I perched on the arm of his chair, still watching him closely. I knew that he very rarely slept. In fact, I'd only seen him asleep once. But it still worried me. The human body needed sleep in order to function correctly.

He shook his head slightly.

"Poor Ryuuzaki," I crooned softly. I wasn't sure how he would react, but I couldn't help it. It was my natural response. "Maybe you'd sleep better if you didn't spend all your time out here. You do have a room, and a bed." I reminded him.

Again, he said nothing. I was worried I might have offended him, at first. But then I saw, he had just been distracted. I followed his gaze to the open window. A pigeon had perched on the ledge outside the window.

"You shouldn't keep the window open like that." I said. When he gave no reply, I decided that he needed cheering up. "Come on, let's go see if there's any ice cream left." I said. I pulled on his arm, and he stood slowly.

Pleased, blushing slightly, I linked my arm with his, and rested my head against his shoulder as we started toward the kitchen. He gave no other reaction than to glance sideways at me.

Unfortunately, before we could get more than a few paces toward the kitchen, something buzzed in the window, and right past my face.

I freaked. Clutching at L's arm, I ducked my head, cowering. L must have looked at me. He must have wondered what kind of reaction that was to an insect. But I couldn't help it. Either way, he carefully eased himself out of my grasp, and went to where the insect had landed.

"Relax, Amy. It's just a beetle."

I did as he had said, and relaxed. "Oh, thank God…" I murmured. "Let me see it." He looked up at me, surprised, but held out his hand. I stepped forward, and looked.

He was right. It was a beetle. Just a simple, black beetle that had happened in by the window on accident. I laughed.

"In my own defense," I started, still giggling. "I thought it was a bee."

L merely looked at me. He didn't seem amused at all. "I wondered why…" He mused quietly to himself. I barley heard it.

"Let me have it," I said, and before he could react, I had plucked the beetle from his hand, and cupped it in my own.

"What are you going to do with it?" He asked.

"Put it outside." I replied. And then, to the beetle. "Come on, little guy. Time to put you where you belong." My footsteps carried me toward the window, and once there, I looked up from the beetle in my hand. The pigeon had flown away, I saw. So, in its place, I carefully set the beetle on the ledge, and then stepped back and closed the window.

When I turned around, L was watching me. "What?" I asked. "I told you you shouldn't keep the window open. Anything could fly, or crawl, or slither or ooze inside." While I was talking, he was slowly drawing closer. As I stopped talking, he stopped advancing. But he was already close enough to touch me, which he did.

Carefully, gently, he tucked two fingers under my chin, and tipped my face upward a touch. Just enough so that I was looking him full in the face. "Do I sense a touch of… fear behind those words?" He spoke softly.

I flushed, grateful that the dim light probably prevented his seeing this. "…No…" I said slowly. "It's not like I'm afraid monsters will climb in my window or anything…"

L smiled, and I blinked. This was the first time I'd seen him actually smile in a long time. "We're all afraid of something…" He whispered.

I swallowed.

"Now, about that ice cream…"

Just as suddenly as L had switched into insightful, kinda annoying mode, he switched back into business-like, obsessed with sweets mode. The transition left me speechless, and confused.

Sighing, I turned away. "Just don't eat it all, okay? I'm gonna go shower."

-----

I had missed the video Light had recorded, because I had been in my room, drowsing. I realized this as I stepped out of the bathroom, clean, and feeling more awake. Disappointed that I had missed the news the night before, I wandered back into the workroom. L wasn't there. I quickly swept my gaze across the entire room, and then to the kitchen. That was the most likely place to find him.

Sure enough, when I entered the kitchen, there was L. He was busy scooping some ice cream into a bowl. He looked up at me when I entered, but said nothing. He merely put a spoon in the bowl, and then held it silently out to me.

Pleasantly surprised, I accepted the ice cream. Usually six in the morning was way too early to be eating something, especially something as sweet as ice cream. But since I was sick, I could make an exception.

My eyes met L's as I took the bowl, and I smiled up at him.

I couldn't understand why he didn't smile back; why he averted his gaze and simply walked away. It didn't make sense. Only half an hour ago he had been talking with me. I shivered as I remembered the feel of his fingers against my skin.

Determined to find out why L was suddenly –although not oddly- acting this way, I followed him out of the kitchen.

"L," I started, but I stopped when the door opened.

Both of us turned toward the door, and I drew back half a pace as my eyes met those of Light. It was only six in the morning, but Light and his father had come already. I forced myself to smile.

"Good morning, Ryuuzaki, Amy-chan." Light smiled lightly back at me as he stepped into the hotel. "How are you feeling today, Amy-chan?"

I retreated another few steps as they drew further into the hotel. "Fine." I replied shortly. My fingers found their way to L's sleeve, and I held on tightly, following as L started into the work room. I didn't let go until L gave the tiniest flick of his wrist, indicating that he needed the use of his hand. Then I settled on the couch, and began my normal routine of watching L work.

--------

Hey, y'all! I know, I know, it's been months. Andy's been a bit busy these past few months, with things like friends, and real boys -coughcough-. ANYWAY. I finally updated. =D Now you can all stop hating me, and go back to loving me, kay? Once again, I'm sorry it took so long. I really was kinda distracted, and fanfic wasn't the first thing on my mind. Sorry it's a little short. Thanks for reading. Leave reviews, please?


	21. Chapter 21

Away From Home

Chapter Twenty-One

By Andruindel

Several days later, I was feeling fresh and bright as a daisy. I skipped into the work room, where I knew L was working. Unfortunately, Light was there, too. He'd made an annoying habit of coming in early with his father, earlier than anyone else on the task force, and leaving later than any of the others. It meant I had very little time to spend with L alone, which was wearing on my nerves and my patience.

Still, nothing much could ruin my mood at the moment. I finished my skipping, glanced once around the room to locate the three occupants: L was sitting, as was usual, in his chair, sipping a cup of tea; Light was at the computer, and Chief Yagami was standing by the window, presumably pondering something. Ignoring the two Yagami's, I approached L, and threw my arms around his shoulders from behind, hugging him tightly.

"Good morning, L," I greeted him, rather more affectionately than usual. Since Light's appearence, I seemed to have begun treating L more and more affectionately, more to get back at Light than anything. If Light knew I liked L, then there was no chance he'd try using me in his schemes. At best, he'd just resent me. Which he seemed to, already. As I hugged L, I glanced once at Light. He was pointedly ignoring me, I saw, but he was scowling. I grinned.

"Good morning, Amy-chan." L replied in a tired tone.

Finally, I released L, and moved to sit down on the couch, the side nearest to him. I still remembered my promise to remain as near him as possible, and to never leave him alone with Light.

Time passed pleasantly enough. The other members of the task force showed up, and I was kept busy refilling L's tea cup every so often. I didn't mind; it gave me something to do.

As I was just returning from filling L's cup the fifth time, his laptop screen lit up with the typical white screen and black letter, a 'W' this time, for Watari. I was the only one who noticed it, as I was the only one facing the screen, until it beeped, and Watari spoke.

"Ryuuzaki, we have a reply from the second Kira."

Everyone turned to look at the screen. "Wha-?"

I grinned, remembering the scene from the anime. But then I had a sobering thought. This was when L finally found out about the Shinigami. I seemed to remember the scene being rather embarrassing, on L's part. Wishing that I could be somewhere else, I joined the others as they gathered around to listen to Misa's video. I made sure not to stand behind L as he took his usual seat.

The video played, and Misa started by thanking Kira for taking notice of her, and replying, and promising to follow Kira's orders. I vaguely heard the other men exclaiming, things like "It worked!" But I was turned and looked up at Light, knowing exactly what was going through his head. He wanted Misa to demand that L appear on television. I frowned, and turned back to listening.

No one except me and Light understood what Misa said next. "I really want to meet you. I don't think you have the eyes, but don't worry. I would never try to kill you."

I glanced at Light again, noting his moment of panic as he feared that the others would become suspicious. Everyone simply thought it was a code. I sighed, wishing I could tell them what was going on, but I couldn't.

"We could show each other our Shinigami."

This was the part I'd been dreading. As L literally freaked out, I clapped my hands to my ears, and closed my eyes, not wanting to see or hear L's moment of weakness. After a moment, I glanced up. L was staring at the screen, and I saw his lips forming words. "Am I supposed to believe that Shinigami actually exist?"

I heard very little of the discussion after they watched the video. It was about how some prisoners had written something about Shinigami (my mind flew to Light's riddle "L, do you know, Shinigami love apples"). I listened, hating the fact that I knew exactly what was going on, but no one else did. I longed to be able to help L figure things out, but I couldn't do anything without endangering L, or myself. So I curled my knees up to my chest, and bit my lip as I listening to them trying to figure out what was going on.

L finally concluded that it would be best to leave things up to the two Kiras, and see what happened. I perked up. If I remembered correctly, things were going to get even more interesting pretty soon.

lililili

"Amy," L broke the oppressive silence that had fallen since the others had all gone.

I looked up, snapped out of my reverie by L's voice. "Hmm?"

L wasn't looking at me. He was staring at his cup of tea as he stirred yet another spoonfull of sugar into it. "I've noticed an odd change in your behaviour recently."

I blushed, but he didn't notice because he wasn't looking at me.

"Quite honestly, I'm curious what could have caused such an odd change in your behavioural pattern. After some very intense thought, I have come to a conclusion."

I waited for him to continue, but he seemed unwilling to continue.

Eventually: "You have feelings for Light-kun, don't you?"

It was so unexpected and ridiculous, that I had to laugh. L seemed taken aback by my mirth, and that made me laugh harder. When I finally regained control of myself, it was to smile fondly at L. "Oh, L, you're so funny." I giggled. "And horribly, horribly wrong. I'd have to be insane to like Light!" I laughed again at the thought.

L tilted his head slightly at me. "Why?"

"Because..." I hesitated. I wanted to tell him how I felt, but I chickened out at the last minute. "I've already got my eye on someone." I blushed again.

"Oh." That was all L said. He looked away again, stirring another spoon of sugar into his tea before taking a sip.

It was quiet after that. I didn't know what else to say. I longed to tell L how I felt about him, but it was just too scary. I didn't want to risk losing the small semblence of friendship we had at the moment. So I said nothing until a little while later, when I went to bed.

"Good night, L," I murmured.

He looked up at me, and there was an odd expression on his face. "Good night, Amy," He replied softly. For a moment I was caught my his deep eyes, but I tore myself away before I said something stupid, and fairly ran to my bed.

lililili

omg, can it be? IT IS! ANDY IS BACK AND BETTER THAN EVER!

I know the chapter was short, but deal with it, kay? I'm just trying to get back into the flow of things, and it may be a few days or weeks before I update again, but I'm trying, guys. I'm trying. Thanks for reading, I'll be looking forward to reviews =D


	22. Chapter 22

Away From Home

Chapter Twenty-Two

By Andruindel

lilililili

_My face flushed as I stared up at L, and he stared down at me. His eyes were unguarded, and there was an obvious expression of fondness in them. They were soft, and shining playfully. I smiled, and leaned close to him as his arms went around my waist._

_"You know what, Amy-chan?" He asked me, rubbing his cheek against my hair._

_"What?" I asked him._

_I looked up at him when he didn't answer right away, and found him staring down at me. Before I could ask him again what he had wanted to say, he leaned down and kissed me. His lips were soft against mine, and the kiss was gentle._

_Suddenly, I was knocked flat by a... a unicorn?_

I woke up with a start, unsure where I was. My momentary confusion was caused by the fact that we'd just changed hotels. I still wasn't used to our new location.

"Amy-chan?" L's eyes turned onto me from where he was sitting by his computer. The rest of the task force was just sitting around. We were still waiting for the two Kiras to make another move, which was boring work. I was expecting Misa to send her journal pages with the location she wanted to see Light. Then, I planned to tag along, to keep an eye on Light. I knew Matsuda was going to end up accompanying him, and I wasn't about to let Matsuda spend the day with Light without me there to make sure he stayed out of trouble.

Finally sure of where I was, I rubbed my eyes, glancing around. "I just had the weirdest dream." I claimed. No one really paid much attention to me. Light wasn't even there.

It was a pleasant surprise when L actually turned his full attention onto me. He didn't say anything, but I could tell he wanted to know what I'd dreamed about. So I told him the bare minimum.

"There was a unicorn..." I said slowly. I glanced up at him, wondering if maybe he would guess what was really on my mind, but he seemed satisfied with my explanation of the dream.

My thoughts were interupted when Watari suddenly entered the room. "Ryuuzaki,"

"Yes, Watari," L was suddenly all business, acting as though I wasn't even there.

"We have another message from the second Kira."

lilili

This was exactly the moment I'd been waiting for. Chief Yagami had called Light to let him know about the message, and now Light was there. I quietly slipped into the background, not wanting to disturb the group as they discussed the implications of the journal pages.

"He wanted the journal shown on tv?" Light asked as he looked at the pages. "These entries are from last year..."

From his place in a chair, in his customary hunched position, L pointed out the entry for May 30th.

I watched Light closely as he examined the pages. I'd taken a look at them over L's shoulders a minute ago, just to refresh my memory. Since I knew what was going on, I had immediately picked up on the 'notebook' reference Misa had made. That was probably what was going through Light's mind, I thought as I watched him. He seemed intent on the pages he held. He was obviously trying to decide how best to deal with this new development.

"What do you think? Is it real?" L asked as he approached Light.

Light turned to look at him, considered for a minute, and then spoke lightly and almost apologetically. "At this point in time, all I can say for sure is: he must be stupid."

Matsuda agreed immediately. Poor Matsuda, I thought, watching him now. He was so fond of Light. Tears gathered in my eyes as I went over the events of the last episode of the anime. Matsuda really had made a big improvement that episode. Of course, I'd called it. I knew he had it in him.

As Chief Yagami explained that airing the journal pages would cause mass panic, L moved away to the low table, where a box of chocolates lay. Several of them were already missing, as he'd been eating them randomly all day.

"To be honest," L said as he selected a chocolate. "It's so stupid, I'm not even sure how to deal with this situation any more." I almost giggled. Not only had he spoken with his mouth full, but he sounded extremely put out by the fact that he didn't know what to do. The others followed him as he resumed his seat, and gathered around.

Deciding that I'd rather not be left in the background, I slipped past Light, being sure to keep a wide space between me and him, and then sat down between Aizawa and Matsuda. Matsuda glanced once at me, but said nothing. He was listening to L as he explained what he thought they ought to do.

L deserved his ranking as the top three detectives in the world, I thought as I listened to him speaking his thoughts on the problem aloud. He knew what he was doing, and he wasn't going to take any chances that the Kira copy-cat might get away with whatever he (she, I thought to myself) was up to. I gazed silently at him, never looking away from his face. He looked as calm as ever.

"We should also arrange to have undercover officers in both those locations on both dates." L finished his thought.

Matsuda spoke up, grinning. "I should probably go, since I'd blend in with the crowd there, y'know?" He said.

L set down his tea cup, considering.

"I'll go too," Light said suddenly, surprising everyone but me.

Irritated by Light's use of the nick-name "Matsui", I took a stand. "I want to go, too." I said, surprising myself with the vehemence in my tone. "I want to do something helpful, instead of just sitting around all the time watching you guys work on catching Kira." I glanced at Light as I spoke, angry that I couldn't just confront him then and there. "Please say you'll let me go, L," I pleaded, turning to L with my best puppy-face on. "I'll blend in just as well as Matsuda,"

L considered my words for a long time, gnawing thoughtfully on his thumb-nail. I looked around the room, trying to decipher the looks on the groups' faces. Matsuda looked a bit worried; obviously he would be concerned for my safety. Chief Yagami looked disapproving, as though he thought I should have kept quiet and not interupted them. Light seemed like he was lost in thought; he was staring absently at me, but in a way that indicated he wasn't really looking at me. Aizawa just looked uninterested. He was the most annoying out of the group. Except for Light, of course, but Light was more on the 'I'ma kill you, first chance I get' scale.

Finally, L looked up at me. I turned to face him again, hoping that he would say yes.

"My brain tells me not to let you go, because you may well be a liability to our undercover officers." My heart sank, only to rise again as he continued. "But something tells me that letting you accompany Matsuda and Light would be a good idea. You may go with them, so long as you promise to follow Matsuda's orders perfectly, and not to do anything stupid."

Happy beyond all reason (I was going to be exposed to Misa's insanity, after all) I leaped to my feet, rushed at L, and hugged him. Before I could stop myself, I had kissed his cheek. "Thank you, Ryuuzaki-san," I grinned at him. He stared up at me, obviously very surprised by my kiss. The rest of the group were trying to act as though they hadn't seen me kiss him, but they were failing at acting innocent. I smiled to myself, pleased that I had confused the entire group.

I was also already making plans for my under-cover mission. There was the question of what to wear, how to do my hair, and how to act. Maybe me and Matsuda would need a back story, to help the illusion along. As I made my way toward my new room, I smiled to myself. Finally, I would be doing something at least a little helpful. I'd have to keep my eyes out for Misa, though, I thought to myself, hoping I remembered what her disguise looked like.

"Oh, Panda!" I fairly sang the instant I had closed my bedroom door behind me. "Guess what! I'm going on a secret mission with Matsu!"

lilili

Later that night, as some of the others were beginning to drift away, I sat watching L, as I had been for the last hour or so. I was trying not to make it obvious, but I couldn't get the dream I'd had earlier out of my head. It was haunting me, in a manner of speaking. And all I could wonder was: "What if it came true?" And: "Can L tell I've been dreaming about him?" The questions were torturous as they wound through my head again and again.

So, to distract myself, I abruptly stood, and followed Light, Chief Yagami and Matsuda outside. It didn't look like Matsuda was planning on going home yet, but even if he was, I'd just say good bye and then go back upstairs. At least it would give me something to do.

Matsuda wasn't planning on going home, he was just talking over our 'trips' as Light called them, with Light. I stood near the door, watching them as Matsuda said good bye, and Light drove away. When Matsuda turned back to me, I smiled at him. And then his phone rang.

I couldn't hear who it was, but I knew it was L, asking Matsuda to keep an eye on Light while we were out. I looked questioningly up at him when he hung up. He said nothing, but he put an arm around my shoulders and we walked inside together. He looked worried, and my spirits dropped. I kept forgetting just how fond of Light Matsuda was.

"So, Matsu," I started as we got into the elevator. Talking helped distract me from the fact that I hated elevators. "What'd L have to say?"

He looked at me, confused.

"I guessed," I said quickly. "I mean, he's always calling you for random reasons, right?"

Matsuda laughed. "Yeah, I guess he is. He just wanted to make sure I knew to keep an eye on you when we're under cover."

I tipped my head to one side. "Really?" I asked. I was more than a little suspicious.

Matsuda nodded. "Really." He said, and he was completely serious.

I considered the implications of that. Did L really care? I smiled as I thought about it. Maybe he really did give a crap what happened to me after all.

lilililili

Hahaha, secret mission comes in the next chapter. ;D And, Panda-san made another short appearance, I'll probably have him come in again a few chapters from now. I'm finally getting back into the flow of things! I love watching the anime again, even though I'm a bit lost, because I haven't seen it in so long! L is so awesome, haha

Anyways, thanks for reading, and again, I'm sorry for the length. It's kinda weird, trying to get back into the flow of a story I've left for so long. x.x I'm looking forward to reviews!


	23. Chapter 23

Away From Home

Chapter Twenty-Three

By Andruindel

lilililili

My heart was thumping madly as me and Matsuda approached Light, and a group of his friends. I glanced up at Matsuda, and he looked nervous. I smiled lightly, glad that L had let me go. I wasn't about to give Light the chance to hurt Matsuda. And if I remembered correctly, he embarrassed him, at least once. I was going to prevent that, I hoped.

As we walked toward Light and his group of friends, my mind went back toward the few minutes before my departure. Matsuda left the hotel room before I did, to get his car. I took a minute to glance in a mirror, and make sure I looked alright. I'd gone with a simple out-fit, a cute t-shirt and jeans. I looked like a typical girl who was going out to spend a day with friends. When I turned from the mirror, it was to find L close behind me, watching me.

"Be careful out there, Amy," He said softly. He came a step closer, and then when I didn't protest to it, he took a few more, until he was very close.

I stared up at him. "I will," I promised him.

"I don't know what I'd do if you got hurt..." He said softly. Almost as though he wasn't completely aware of what he was doing, he lifted a hand and ran his fingers through my hair. My eyes flickered closed at the soft touch, and then snapped open again as he drew away abruptly. I watched him shuffle away, his hands in his pockets, pondering his words.

_I don't know what I'd do if you got hurt..._

"Uhm, exscuse me, Light?"

I started; we'd reached Light, and Matsuda was addressing him. I tried to look attentive, and pulled a pleasant smile onto my face as Light introduced us, Matsuda as his cousin, and me as Matsuda's friend, Amanda. Obviously, they had to give me an American name, because I didn't look even slightly Japanese.

"It's his first time in Tokyo," Light explained, leaving me out of the equation completely. "And, he mentioned he's looking for a girlfriend, any volunteers."

The girls in the group giggled at that statement.

Me and Matsuda hadn't gotten around to making up a back story, but I decided, spur of the moment, that I didn't want any of those girls volunteering to be Matsuda's girlfriend for the day. Acting spontaneously, I linked arms with Matsuda, and laughed. "Oh, Light, stop joking! Why would he need a girlfriend when he's already got a perfectly good one?" I smiled up at Matsuda, who at first seemed some-what surprised by my words, and then he resigned himself to the fact that I'd just made our characters boyfriend and girlfriend.

I thought one of the girls looked disappointed, and I smirked to myself. No friend of Light's was going to get near my Matsu.

The day passed pretty much uneventfully. Mostly, I just amused myself by treating Matsuda as though he really were my boyfriend. I hung on him; I almost constantly either had my arm linked through his, or even went so far as to hold his hand. He didn't seem to mind, but I could tell that he was embarrassed. It was especially easy to tell when our group stopped for ice cream, and he offered to pay for mine. I was surprised, but pleased, when he pulled me away from the group to explain that if we were going to pretend to be a couple, he should buy the ice cream.

As the day went on, our act got better and better, until I was wondering if that was what it was really like to be Matsuda's girlfriend. I just hoped we wouldn't be called on to display any more affection than simply holding hands, although once or twice, when we stopped for some reason or other, I let my arms slip around his neck, he put his arms around my waist, and we made the most adorable couple.

Light congratulated us on our act later that day, as we were finally heading back to the hotel. I was exhausted; acting took a lot out of me, apparently.

"Are you sure you guys aren't secretly a couple or something?" Light joked as we climbed the stairs. Unlike the sudden way our act had begun, it stopped much more slowly. I had to remind myself that we were not really a couple just to keep from reaching for his hand as we climbed the stairs.

I laughed. "I guess you'll never know, will you?" I replied, matching his joking tone. I glanced up at Matsuda, winked, and then, as we reached our floor, skipped away toward the hotel room. I couldn't wait to tell L all about the day.

Unfortunately, Light beat me to it, heaping praise on me and Matsuda for our excellent performance. Not only did his praise embarrass me, but the look on L's face as he listened to Light talk about my one day as Matsuda's girlfriend was killing me. I wanted to talk to him, to make sure he knew I didn't have feelings for Matsuda at all, but I didn't get the chance. He was busy all night.

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A few days later, I was sitting in a corner of the dark work room, listening to the group discuss the uneventful past few days. I had forgotten to keep an eye out for Misa while I was under cover, not that it mattered much anyway. She didn't do anything other that find Light, and then leave.

I had more important things to worry about, anyway. L hadn't spoken to me since I'd come home from my day with Matsuda and Light. I couldn't decide if he was mad, or depressed. His emotions were hard to tell apart some times.

I was just sinking into an elaborate day dream, which involved L finally talking to me again, when Watari's 'W' showed up on the computer screen along with the familiar buzzing noise that alerted the entire room that he had something to say.

"Ryuuzaki, apparently Sakura tv has just recieved another message from the second Kira." Chief Yagami, Aizawa and Light all stood up to get a better look at the screen. I followed suit, standing and moving to stand close beside L, where I could listen. "It was postmarked on the twenty-third."

The screen blinked, and it said 'Kira' now. "I'm happy to say that I have found Kira," Misa started out. I swore quietly to myself. Things were just beginning to get interesting. She went on to thank the television station and the police department.

I watched the group's reactions. Both Light and L were deep in thought. I carefully reached out and put my hand on L's shoulder. He didn't react.

"This is a disaster if he found him!" Aizawa broke out.

"Yes," Chief Yagami agreed with him. "This most likely means that the two Kiras are now cooperating."

L calmly picked up his forgotten cup of tea, and stirred it thoughtfully with his spoon. "At this point I don't think we should jump to any conclusions. The second Kira is simply saying he found him, nothing more. He may not have made contact yet." His eyes moved up to focus on Light. I knew his mind was working feverishly to connect Light with Kira some how. "Now that it's come to this, we have no choice but to communicate as the police with the second Kira."

"You wanna send a message?" Matsuda asked, just to confirm.

"Yes. We need to reach out to the second Kira and offer him a deal."

I watched the men, worried. Without knowing it, my fingers tightened on L's shoulder, until I felt him shift slightly, and realized what I was doing. Then I swiftly let go of his shoulder, and crossed my arms, continuing to watch the rest of the group. Light's eyes were hard as he considered the problem this new development put him in. It was rather like watching a game of chess, I thought idly to myself, only with death being the final factor.

As the discussion went on around me, I let my mind wander. After hearing the message, Misa was going to contact Light. I mused on the implications. If I could stop Misa from getting to Light, then maybe... But that wasn't any good, the anime gave no indication of how long after this night they sent the message out to the fake Kira, so I had no idea when Misa would try to contact Light.

Dispirited, I leaned against L's chair, watching as they planned the message they would send, and then as Light finally went home, followed by Aizawa, Chief Yagami, and Matsuda.

"Good night," Matsuda called as he finally left, giving me the first chance to be alone with L I'd had in days. I barely acknowledged Matsuda's words, just glancing over my shoulder in his direction before turning my attention to L.

"I've given it some more thought," L began in a thoughtful tone. "And I have come to a more logical conclusion."

I leaned forward, my heart-rate increasing significantly at the thought that L may have come to the right conclusion. "Yes?"

L's eyes never wavered from my own; they were deep, dark, and captivating. "You have feelings for Matsuda?"

This time, I knew better than to give him a definite answer. If I told him that I did not like Matsuda, then that would leave him with only one logical conclusion, and that would be potentially dangerous. "I'm not going to tell you." I said, a playful smile coming across my face. "If I did that, then you'd know!"

L's eyes widened. "Know what?"

I looked away, refusing to look him in the eye, fearing that he may see the answer in my eyes. "You'd know who I.. have feelings for," The phrase was a little awkward, but I decided I'd follow his lead and let him call the shots. "If you knew, then it wouldn't be a secret any more, and besides, there's only two possibilties left, so either way, if I confirm that I do or do not have feelings for Matsuda, then you'll know who I have feelings for, and I'll be stuck in an embarrassing situation." I wasn't even sure what I was saying any more. Either way, my logic was making little sense; I hoped it would confuse L.

Apparently, my logic worked. He stared at me for a moment, biting his lip in what I assumed was a nervous reaction. "What?" He finally asked.

I smiled, and stood up. "Forget about it, Ryuuzaki," I leaned down to kiss his cheek, and then wandered into my room, where I planned on cuddling with Panda for a bit while I tried to sleep. My mind was muddled with thoughts about L, and about myself. I wondered if maybe things were finally begginning to pick up. I couldn't keep myself from wondering whether or not L liked me. The minute I let myself consider it, I pushed the thought out of my mind. I didn't want to think about it, in case I was disappointed.

I spent a long time lying in bed, hugging Panda close. My eyes were heavy, but my mind was feverishly active. I had no idea how to handle the situation with L. I fell asleep with thoughts of L running through my mind.

lilililili

Hey, y'all! As some of you may be able to tell, I've finally gotten into a regular updating schedule. Expect updates from me every Friday, at least until I finish the story (I've been writing the chapters before hand, I'm up to chapter 28!), then you can expect updates every few days!

Thanks for reading. I hope you liked it. I enjoyed writing about Amy and Matsuda, but this chapter made me realize that they wouldn't really be a good couple. He's like that one guy that she'll always cherish, and be really close to, but a relationship wouldn't work. I know I've got at least one guy like that in my past lol. No need for those kinda guys when you've got an awesome boyfriend though, right? ;D

Anyway, thanks again for reading, and don't forget to hit that little 'review' button!


	24. Chapter 24

Away From Home

Chapter Twenty-Four

By Andruindel

lilililili

The next morning I woke up to something rather creepy. The first I knew of it was that the weight of a figure other than my own had come to rest on the foot of my bed. Assuming that I had overslept, and that Matsuda had come to wake me, I rolled over, fully ready to wake up. In reality, it was six fourty-five in the morning, and the person sitting on the foot of my bed was L.

"L?" I was too half asleep to bother diving under the covers, so instead, I made myself comfortable in my new position, curling up with Panda and looking curiously at L.

He was sitting cross-legged on the end of my bed, gnawing on his thumb-nail, his eyes large and unwavering. "I have something rather important on my mind." He started.

"Mm?" I was too tired to form a complete word.

He moved abruptly, coming out of his cross-legged position and shifting to sit closer to me. I was forced to move aside and give him room to sit beside me. "I disapprove of your feelings for Matsuda." It was hard to decipher his words, since he was still gnawing his thumb-nail. "Light would be a much more suitable match for you, as he is your age, while Matsuda is nearly eight years your senior."

I couldn't believe what he was saying to me. "Really, L?" I sat up straighter, running my fingers through my hair and yawning. "I have one thing to say to you, and then I have a question. First, I do not like, and will never like Light. And, why are you trying to hook me up with a Kira suspect? Everyone knows he's a suspect, and personally, I think you're right in believing that he could be Kira."

Still half-asleep, I watched L consider my question. It was nice when I could actually see his thoughts passing across his face. I felt like I actually knew L when I could see his thoughts clearly.

"I was not trying to... 'hook you up' with Light-kun." He hesitated with the phrase, but then carried on in full flow. "I simply wish to inform you that someone so much older than you is not a suitable match."

"L, stop." I pushed myself up onto my knees and faced him seriously. "I don't need your advice, my love life is just fine without your help. And why do you care so much anyway?"

"I don't," L faced me. My bed was only big enough to allow so much room, so we were closer than we had ever been before.

"You don't?" I cried, my voice rising slightly. "If you don't care, then why do you act like you care? If you don't care, then why are you even here at seven in the morning, making sure I know that, apparently, Light's the only good choice I could make in the area of 'matches' as you call them?"

L did not respond. He stared at me, and that was when I realized that in my passion, I'd shifted even closer to him. We were literally inches away. He looked rather taken-aback by my outburst, and he had never looked more adorable, sitting with his thumb in his mouth, and his eyes wide. Suddenly, I realized how much I liked him. I'd never let myself think about the full depth of my feelings before.

I had to get away from him. "Okay, just forget it." I jumped up, and fled my room, leaving L behind, staring after me.

lilili

Thankfully, L had much to do that day, as he had since the previous day. He was watching the footage from the cameras they'd put up, which meant he had very little time to spend thinking about me. Though, when I thought about it, he was probably capable of thinking about more than one thing at once, which meant he could very well have been thinking about me. Personally, I was doing my very best to avoid thinking about him.

After eating a hurried breakfast, I slipped past L, who was already busy staring at the television. The blinds were drawn, and it was very dark. L seemed to like the dark. I did too, I realized as I stepped into my room and into blinding sunlight. As a result of L's love of the dark, his room was facing to the North, while mine was facing directly into the East, meaning I got direct sunlight while he got only indirect sunlight. Cursing, I gathered Panda into my arms, and then stepped back into the work room, where I found the coziest corner, curled up with Panda, facing the wall, and ignored L.

I was still there, in a half-asleep state, when the others arrived. None of them seemed to notice me, as I hadn't moved upon their entering, and I wasn't making any attempt to draw attention to myself.

When the group saw what L was doing, Aizawa spoke up. "Were you actually going to watch all the footage by yourself?" He asked, obviously incredulous.

"Yes," L answered him. "I think it is very likely that the two Kiras made contact on that day, so I want to check all of these tapes personally." As he spoke, he never took his eyes from the screen. I knew that somewhere in all that tape, I would show up.

My attention wasn't caught by the conversation until a few seconds later, when L mentioned that he wanted Mogi to follow Light. Eyes still closed, I moved into a sitting position, and then swiveled so that I was facing the room, my back to the wall. Then I opened my eyes in order to watch L.

"You want Light followed?" Chief Yagami asked, shocked.

"It's only a slim chance," L's eyes still never left the television screen. "But if Light is Kira, then there is still a possibility that the second Kira will try to contact him somehow."

Chief Yagami looked grim, but he accepted L's request. "Very well..." He muttered sullenly.

Silently, I watched as Aizawa stepped closer to Matsuda, confidentially close. "I'm beginning to wonder if Ryuuzaki is even human. The guy never sleeps." He muttered, glancing suspiciuosly toward the afformentioned detective.

"I saw him sleeping in that exact same position the other day." Matsuda replied, crossing his arms and staring at L.

L's eyes were focused almost unblinkingly on the television screen. He seemed to have been eating ice cream off and on all day. I had no doubt in my mind that Watari was somewhere in the hotel suite, lurking, waiting to cater to L's every whim. At least L wasn't using me for that today.

After watching the group for a while, I stretched, yawned, and stood up. Matsuda glanced my direction, and a smile lit up his face. I approached him, knowing that I would get a hug and some attention from him, at least. L was thouroughly occupied with the tapes. The only time he moved was to either take a bite of his ice cream, or put a new tape into the player so he could continue watching the footage.

Just like I'd know he would, Matsuda stood up and hugged me. Feeling oddly down, mostly because I knew I wasn't going to be getting much attention from L for the next day or so, I let the hug linger, pressing my face into Matsuda's chest, and breathing deeply.

"You smell good," I breathed, rubbing my cheek lightly against the front of his shirt.

"Thanks," He was embarrassed. I could tell by the tone of his voice.

Smiling, I finally pulled away from him, and, spur of the moment, decided I was going to spend the day with Matsuda, even if I was just watching him work.

lilili

By the next evening L had finished watching all the videos, and I knew he probably hadn't found much. Obviously, he'd been too busy to pay much attention to me, but I hadn't minded. Not really. Well, maybe I'd minded a little bit...

...Or a lot...

Yes, I had to admit to myself as I sat quietly in the background, watching the group at work, it had bothered me that L had been too busy to pay attention to me. I couldn't help it. After all, he had finally started showing some interest in me (for heaven's sake, he'd asked me whether or not I liked Light!) and then, all of a sudden, I was shoved into the back seat by the Kira investigation. I knew I was being selfish. The rest of the world needed L far more than I did. But still.

I sat in my corner, cross-legged and bored, watching the group. Another video from the second Kira (Misa, I thought to myself) had just come in. And almost right after L got the video, Light came in. Too grumpy to care much about what happened around me, I silenty observed as they watched the tape, and then discussed it. I was in the perfect position to watch L, and it was with silent delight that I watched him pick up a chocolate donut, lick it once before speaking, and then lick it several more times.

My imagination went a little wild at this point, and I'd really rather not dwell on details.

The next thing I knew, I was being snapped out of a delightful daydream by a startling statement. "I feel you're the first friend that I have ever had."

I stared, shocked, for I had completely forgotten about that part of the anime. Pain shot right into my heart at his words; Wasn't I L's friend? Why was Light his first ever friend? He'd known me far longer than he'd known Light! A lump caught in my throat; the effort of keeping down my tears physically hurt me, but somehow, I managed. I turned my head, afraid that someone might notice my plight, but no one did. They were all focused entirely on L and Light.

The rest of the night went slowly, and painfully. By the time the others were getting ready to call it a night, I was sick of looking at L. My heart ached to think that he counted Light as his very first friend, while I was just some girl who was currently living with him. What had happened to his concern for me?

I caught Matsuda as he was heading toward the door, reaching out and grabbing his sleeve just before he could open it. "Matsu, can I come home with you tonight?" I asked, gazing beseachingly up at him.

He stared at me for a minute, obviously thinking over my request. "I guess so.. But why?"

I glanced over my shoulder, just enough to bring L into view. "I just... I just don't really want to be here tonight." I didn't want to give him details, at least not when L was within ear-shot. If Matsuda asked for details later, then I'd gladly give them, though I wasn't sure if I'd be able to explain it to him.

He seemed to understand, at least a little. "Alright. I can't promise a perfectly clean place, but it's not that bad."

lilili

Not that bad was a gross over-statement. Matsuda's apartment showed all the signs of a single man living there: empty pizza boxes and soda cans lying unused and unwanted, an untidily made bed in the one small bedroom, and a rather rotten smell coming from the small kitchen area. But at least the bathroom was clean, I was relieved to notice when I peeked into it.

"You can have the bed," Matsuda offered. "I'll put clean sheets on it for you."

I declined the offere stubbornly. "I'll sleep on the couch," I told him.

He seemed loathe to let me sleep on the couch, but I finally argued him down, and he lined the couch with blankets and pillows. I smiled to myself as I watched him, but my smile quickly faded when I remembered why I was there. When he had finished making the couch into a suitable bed, I sat down, sighing heavily.

"Are you okay, Amy?" He sat beside me, putting an arm around my shoulders comfortingly.

"Not really," I sighed again. "L said.. he said that Light is his first friend..." I could feel the tears threatening to fall again, and I turned my face toward Matsuda, hiding in his shoulder. His arms went around me, and he held me close while I struggled to gain control of the tears striving to fall. "But... if Light's his only friend, then what does that make me?"

Matsuda did not answer right away. He was obviously thinking deeply. He thought for so long that his phone rang, interuppting the moment. Apologizing, he pulled the phone from his pocket. I pulled away from him, scrubbing at my eyes.

"Hello," Matsuda answered the phone in a weary tone. "She's with me. Uh-huh... No, I'm sorry. Yes, I'll make sure... Uh-huh..."

I was in a fever of curiosity by the time he got off the phone. I looked up at him, and he looked down at me, smiling. "I'd say it makes you a little something more than a friend," He grinned knowingly. "That was Ryuuzaki, he was worried because he couldn't find you in the hotel."

I was a little skeptical. "Really?"

"Yes, really. I think Ryuuzaki likes you, Amy!"

lilililili

Hey, guys, sorry it's almost a day late. x.x I was super busy today (ahem cough). I was playing D and D with my bf and some friends of ours. It was totally epic. Either way, here's the weekly update I've promised you. I hope you like it, and thanks for reading. Things with L and Amy are getting serious, huh? ;D Don't forget to send me lots and lots of reviews! I love hearing what you guys think of my story!


	25. Chapter 25

Away From Home

Chapter Twenty-Five

By Andruindel

lilililili

I was all anxiety the next morning. Even after spending a surprisingly uncomfortable night on Matsuda's couch, and getting no more than four hours of sleep, I was in a very good mood. One of the two main reasons I had been unable to sleep was because my mind was filled with thoughts of L. Matsuda thought L liked me. Just the thought sent blood rushing to my cheeks, and made my heart-rate accelerate. The second reason was because the couch was uncomfortable, despite the blankets and pillows Matsuda had given me in an attempt to insure I spent the night comfortably.

I could not wait to get back to the hotel and speak to L.

Instead of the romantic scene I'd been imagining all night, what I really got was a hurried drive from Matsuda's apartment, because we were running late. And by the time we got to the hotel, L was already hard at work. He gave me a greeting in passing, and nothing more. Disappointed, I exscused myself, took a long, hot shower, and then put on the most comfortable outfit I had: a baggy t-shirt and jeans. Actually, the shirt wasn't mine. I stole one of L's, knowing he wouldn't take enough notice of me to care.

When I returned to the work room, now bright and sunny because the thick curtains were open, I found L hard at work examining evidence. I glanced around once, and then took a seat between Matsuda and Aizawa. Matsuda glanced at me, and smiled reassuringly. I just barely managed a rueful smile, and then I sighed, curling my knees up to my chest, and leaning my head against Matsuda's shoulder.

L made thoughtful little 'hmm-ing' noises as he examined the evidence. Again, I managed a ghost of a smile as I watched him.

Finally, L spoke, still looking at the little plastic bags. "Mr. Yagami. If I die in the next few days, your son is Kira." The claim came out of no where, followed by a thoughtful "Hm, another hair," Which was obviously only L talking to himself.

Mr. Yagami was outraged. He stood, staring at L. "What did you just say, Ryuuzaki?"

"Exactly," Matsuda jumped in. I wanted to hit him, and talk some sense into him. His loyalty toward Light seemed to have absolutely no foundation. "What are you talking about?"

The three men all stood, staring at L. I remained where I was, knees drawn up to my chest, chin resting on my knees. I squeezed my eyes shut, and put my hands over my ears, not wanting to hear anything that was being said, and yet too afraid to uncover my ears long enough to get up and flee the room. I was in denial, I knew it. L was talking about his death, as though he couldn't have cared less whether he died in the next few days or not. I hated it.

I didn't open my eyes again until Matsuda rested his hand on the top of my head. "Amy? Are you alright?"

I made up a lie on the spot. "I don't like it when people raise their voices," It was the first thing that popped into my head, but as I said it, I stared at L. He was still calmly looked at the evidence, picking up bag after little plastic bag, looking at each for a few seconds, and then replacing them on the table. I had no idea what he had in mind. But right then, at that moment, I resolved to talk to L that night, even if I had to stay up all night to find the oppurtunity.

lilili

My spirit was willing, but my flesh was weak. After only four hours of sleep the previous night, and an exhausting day of watching L and the other men work, I only lasted until a little after ten at night, which was right before Matsuda and Aizawa left. More than an hour before I had stretched out on the couch, deteremined to rest, but not to fall asleep. Yeah, good luck with that one, Amy.

I was awake again before I'd even realized I had been asleep. And I woke with a scream fighting its way out of my throat. My awakening must have been violent, or sudden, because L looked up from his hunched position, staring at me with a curious expression on his face.

"Amy-chan?"

"L," I had no time for tears; the dream I'd just woken from was still clear, but fading fast. "L, you can't die."

Something in my voice, or eyes, must have alerted him to the urgency of the situation. He unfolded himself from his usual position, stood, and moved to the couch to sit beside me. I watched him, willing him to understand.

"What do you mean?"

I swallowed hard. "You can't die, L. And you can't just talk about dying like it's nothing. Because it wouldn't be nothing. I would miss you, Matsuda would miss you. And if you die, then there will be no one to stop Kira."

"Now, that's not neccessarily true," He put his thumb to his mouth, thoughtful once again.

I disgreegarded his words. "Please, L, promise me you won't die."

"This means a lot to you...?" It wasn't supposed to be a question, I didn't think. But it came out as one.

I nodded, tears finally springing into my eyes, and threatening to choke me. "Uh huh..."

"Why?"

The one word hung in the air for a full minute. L never took his eyes from my face, but I had to look away. I considered; thoughts rushed madly through my head. To this day I will never be able to repeat any of those thoughts.

"Because I think I love you..."

lilili

L was pretending to read. But he wasn't really seeing the words. His thoughts were whirling. Amy. Kira. His impending death. The previous night... He needed to concentrate. He needed his wits about him at the moment. He needed to outsmart Light once and for all. But he couldn't help it. He allowed himself to go over the events of the previous night one last time. Outwardly, he was calm; he sat in his usual position on a bench in the shade, holding a book in the only way that was comfortable for him. The sandals he had put on earlier were lying unwanted on the ground underneath the bench. And as he pretended to read, but really allowed his thoughts to wander, a tiny smile touched his lips.

_"Because I think I love you..."_

_He was shocked. His eyes went wide, and he immediately began gnawing earnestly on his thumb nail, staring. Staring at Amy. He didn't know what to think. He knew what he wanted to think; and he could see what Amy wanted him to think. But for once his reasoning abilities seemed to have left him._

_"I..." What was he supposed to say? 'I think I love you too?' or 'I'm certainly fond of you too, Amy-chan'. Or maybe 'But I'm too old for you.' Possibly even 'Are you sure you don't prefer Matsuda-san?' Each choice seemed to have a certain appeal to it. But as he stared at Amy, and saw her confidence beginning to sway, he made a choice, and said something he hadn't thought of._

_"You do...?"_

_He could see Amy's eyes shining with the truth as she confirmed her statement. "Yes... I, I think I do." She sounded uncertain, and suddenly she was shy of looking him in the eye. Or maybe it was he who was avoiding meeting her gaze fully. He couldn't be sure._

_Then he said something stupid. "Are you sure?"_

_He knew immediatly that it was the wrong thing to say. Amy drew back, concern in her eyes now. She was so easy to read, especially when she got worked up. "I'm sorry, Amy-chan. Forget I said that."_

_She said nothing, merely stared at him. She seemed to be waiting for him to say something. But what?_

_"So..." Finally, Amy seemed to decide to take the lead. "What happens next?" Or not. L was left with the impossible task of deciding what happened next. The problem was, he didn't know what he wanted to happen next._

_"I... I don't know." He answered, truthfully enough._

_For a long minute he stared into Amy's eyes, seeing a world of emotion behind them. But after a minute, she yawned, apparently surprised by the display of exhaustion. "You should go to bed, Amy-chan." Before she could protest, he caught one of her hands in his, gazing earnestly at her. "We will talk about this. I promise." After that, she went willingly to bed._

L sighed. Then his attention was caught by Light as he approached. Enough of his distractions, for now. Later, he would be faced with the task of having 'the talk' as some called it, with Amy. Now, he needed to play the game he and Light were so painfully consumed by.

lilili

I slept fitfully, at best, but my dreams were pleasant. I was severely disappointed to find that when I woke, L was no where to be found. Dispireted, I sat down, alone, in the work room. As a result of my fitful slumber, and restless thoughts, I'd woken far earlier than usual. And so I was alone until Chief Yagami showed up, followed by Matsuda, and only then did I find out that L had gone to the college. After my initial fright, I began to recall the events of the episode I was currently experiencing. Unless I was mitaken, Misa would be taken into custody by this afternoon, and that meant all L's attention would go to watching her and Light. How long had it taken, fifty days?

I dreaded that time.

As I suspected, there was no talk with L that night. In fact, I was banished to my room, rather abruptly, the instant L returned to the hotel. Feeling undoubtedly depressed, and with an ache in my chest, I fell into bed and cried myself to sleep, cuddling Panda, the closest thing to a human I had to cuddle, and cursing Light for his interference in my relationship with L.

lilililili

adiondasklnfsdui8ofhnd

Hey, y'all. It's a new update, in case you couldn't see. Hum.. this author's note isn't going to be too terribly long, or coherent, because I'm currently half asleep. So lemme just say thanks for reading, thank you to my long-time readers for not giving up hope on this story, and please don't forget to review! Reviews keep me writing! Expect an update in a week!


	26. Chapter 26

Away From Home

Chapter Twenty-Six

By Andruindel

lilililili

The next three or five days went by in an endless blur of monotony. I was confined to my room, basically forbidden to leave by L. My only visitor was Matsuda, who usually brought me my meals. I was going crazy. This was worse than the months I'd spent confined to the hotel room, during the brief period I had been a Kira suspect. Now, however, I wasn't just being confined because L was afraid I was a mass murderer. I was being confined for a reason I didn't even understand. Honestly, I wasn't sure if L had a reason, and if he did, he wasn't going to tell me any time soon.

Finally, after I had lost track of the days, and the time, and had lost any semblance of sanity, I decided enough was enough. I opened my door a crack, peering through to make sure no one was coming down the hall. No one was, so I felt safe enough to open the door wide enough to slip through. Silently, I padded down the hall in my bare feet, and then peered curiously into the dark work room. It was odd, the way L prefered the dark when he was watching the tv.

L was in front of the tv now. In fact, he was talking. After only a few seconds, I was able to tell that he was talking to Misa. Sure that everyone was intent on the scene unfolding before them, I took a step into the room.

Instantly, L shut off his microphone, and turned to glare at me. "Get back to your room, Amy." He snapped. His tone stung more than the words.

With tears welling up in my eyes, I took a step backward. "Fine, but you don't have to yell," And then I retreated, intent on crying to Panda for a while.

I was only there, curled up on my bed, tears falling slowly, for a minute or so before my door opened slowly. I didn't bother looking up. It couldn't be anyone other than Matsuda.

"Hey," He greeted me softly, and without waiting for me to reply, sat on the edge of my bed. "Ryuuzaki sent me to apologize for him."

"Okay." The apology didn't really help. But Matsuda's presence did. I sat up, wiping my eyes. "Why am I stuck here?"

Matsuda welcomed me into his arms as I leaned into him, needing to be close to someone. "I don't think Ryuuzaki wants you there while he's interrogating someone. Maybe it has something to do with his liking you...?"

Normally that would have cheered me up. Now, I just hated the way that sounded. I knew, though no one else knew, that I wouldn't be seeing much of L for a long time.

lilili

While Light, Misa and Mr. Yagami were in their confinement, I was in a sort of confinement of my own. I was rarely allowed to leave my room, and I was never allowed anywhere near the work room. Days dragged by, and so desperate was I for human companionship that after the first few days of Light's confinement, I began stealing L's shirts, just to feel close to him again. They carried the faint, lingering scent of whatever soap or cologne he used.

After the first week of Light's confinement, I was miserable, and had fallen into a state of deep depression. I didn't want to move. I barely ate. Even Matsuda's brief visits couldn't cheer me up, until on the seventh day, I forced myself to sit up when Matsuda brought me dinner. I forced a few bites down, and then before I knew it, I was crying.

Matsuda pulled me into his arms, saying nothing. The strain was already beginning to tell on us all. "I think you should come home with me tonight," Matsuda said. "It's not good for you to be cooped up here all day."

I accepted the offer gratefully, and that night I went home with Matsuda for the second time.

That became our routine. I spent my nights at Matsuda's apartment, sleeping fitfully on his couch, and then riding with him when he went to work. But instead of following him into the hotel, I was left to myself, free to wander as the mood took me. My wanderings never took me far. There was a bookstore not too far away, and a bakery, and a restaurant. L kept me supplied with money, though he was never the one to give it to me, and so I spent my days in reletive comfort. But the dark depression remained.

My relationship with Matsuda began to change, and evolve. It became a deeper relationship, one of mutual understanding and companionship. We began spending a few hours every night just sitting together; he usuallly had his arm around my shoulders, and I usually had my head resting on his shoulder. We were both lonely, both longing for companionship, and we found that in each other's company.

One night, after a month of Light's confinement, Matsuda and I fell asleep on the couch together. That was the end of our deeper, yet less meaningful, relationship. Feeling it would be dangerous, to my friendship with Matsuda and to the relationship I hoped to have with L, to stay with Matsuda any more, I moved back to the hotel again. It would only be a few days before Light was released, I knew. I could survive that.

lilililili

What's this? It's Wednesday and Andy's updating? That can only mean one thing: The fan fic is finished! Yes, you heard (read) right! I have just about finished the entire fan fiction, which means you'll be getting updates every few days, rather than ever Friday! Let's hear the fan's rejoicing!

Sorry about the length. I made up for it by finishing, right? Thanks for reading, don't forget to review!


	27. Chapter 27

Away From Home

Chapter Twenty-Seven

By Andruindel

lilililili

Things were getting tricky. And annoying. I sat, eyes closed, eyebrow twitching every so often, hating Misa. My eyebrow didn't normally twitch, so it was a mark of how irritating I really found Misa.

It had only been a few days since I had finally been allowed to join the task force again. Now, hoping to avoid getting on L's bad side (I still wanted to have that talk he'd promised), I sat silently, even when Misa asked if L was 'on that side of the fence', and finally while L told the others about the building he'd had made. So, our days of hotel hopping were finally coming to an end, I thought. That was a some-what cheering thought, and when L mentioned that Misa and I would have our own floors, I finally took interest in what was going on.

I didn't bother speaking up. The rest of the night and the following day were spent preparing for our move to the building. I didn't get a chance to speak to L until the next night, when I had gotten settled into the new building. I loved having an entire floor to myself. It was private, and comfortable. The bed was huge, as was the bathroom, and the shower was glorious. But something was still bugging me.

Finally, after everyone else was settled in, Matsuda had gone to bed, and Chief Yagami and Aizawa had gone home, I approached L. Even though I was a bit embarrassed to be talking in front of Light, I knew that for the moment, he was harmless. And he was most likely going to pretend to ignore us, for privacy's sake.

"Ryuuzaki?" I asked, making sure I remembered not to call him L.

He swiveled around in his chair to face me. I couldn't tell what he'd been working on, but it didn't seem to be anything important.

As I stood before him, I realized that it had been over a month since we'd last held a conversation. I suddenly had no idea what to say. But for once, he seemed to know.

"I believe I made a promise to you last month..." He murmured.

Just like I assumed he would, Light pretended he couldn't hear our conversation.

I nodded.

L continued. "I promised we would talk. So, let's talk. It has been more than a month... Do your feelings remain the same?"

"Yes..." I spoke the one word breathlessly. It was far too late for me to bother being afraid of what L would think. Now, it was either he liked me, or he didn't. I watched him, biting my lip nervously. "What about you?" I had to ask it.

Slowly, L stood up. "I believe I return your feelings..." He murmured. His tone was low, and almost uncertain. "But, I have to ask. What do you have in mind?"

I blushed. "A... A relationship, I guess." My eyes slipped away from his, to the floor. I couldn't help it. "I mean, I know you're busy with the Kira investigation and everything, but, I mean, I guess I just want to be able to call you my boyfriend. And we could even make Light and Misa's dates into double dates, if that's not too weird." I would have done anything to be with L.

He stopped me by putting his hands on my shoulders. Shocked by how close he was, I looked up at him. He was much taller than me, even though he was still hunched over. I stared up at him, feeling my face heat up.

"I know I'm several years older than you, Amy-chan, but I am willing to try this, if you are."

I beamed. I couldn't stop smiling, and I couldn't help feeling like my heart was about to just up and float away with happiness. "Of course I am! I would do anything to make this work, Ryuuzaki."

For the first time, I saw L's genuine smile. The smile that reached his eyes, and showed that he was truly happy. "I believe the correct response..." He leaned in, and I panicked, ducking.

"Not until at least the first date, Ryuuzaki," I teased, grinning.

"Of course," Instead, L pulled me into a hug. "Stay with me tonight?" He whispered in my ear. I nodded, knowing he would feel it, since we were so close. We stayed that way for a long time, me in his arms, cheek against his chest. It was perfect.

I kept my word, and remained with L the entire time he and Light were working. I pulled up a chair, and sat beside him, and we talked. I almost forgot Light was there.

Almost.

lilililili

Alrighty, then. Due to requests to update quickly, I decided 'what the heck, I'll just update every day'. So, you can expect a chapter a day, unless I absolutely can't get to my computer, or I forget about you, in which case, I apologize in advance. This chapter's pretty short, but, hey, something exciting happened! Thanks for reading!

Also, I think I'd probably better answer a few questions that I've gotten in reviews:

Panda is, in fact, a normal teddy bear.

There are nine more chapters after this, so we have just over a week of updates left.

Don't forget to review! =D


	28. Chapter 28

Away From Home

Chapter Twenty-Eight

By Andruindel

lilililili

"Matsuda!" I ambushed Matsuda the instant he entered the building the next morning. He caught me as I stumbled into him, careless and clumbsy in my excitement. "Guess what!"

He obviously didn't have to guess. "You and Ryuuzaki?" He asked. And I nodded, grinning. I was so happy, I hadn't been able to wait to tell him.

"We're going upstairs to join Light and Misa on their 'date'." I sketched quotation marks around the word with my fingers. Light and Misa weren't really on a date, but me and L were. It wasn't going to be a real date, but at least it was something.

As it turns out, it wasn't much of anything at all. I was stuck on the couch beside Misa, the person I hated most, second only to Light, while L and Light had to sit on the other couch because of the handcuffs. I tried my best not to mind. There was cake, after all, although Misa gave me disapproving looks now and then for eating my slice.

But nothing, not even cake, could make up for Misa's whining. I glanced at L, and he met my gaze evenly for a few seconds, seeming to acknowledge my suffering and offer his sympathy all in that one glance.

Even so, I snapped when Misa called L a pervert. Again.

"Exscuse me, bitch, but I'd appreciate it if you didn't call my boyfriend a pervert." I snapped, raising my voice. I couldn't help it, Misa brought out the worst in me. She seemed highly offended, and on the verge of retaliating when L put a stop to things swiftly.

"Amy, please calm down."

I turned to him, still outraged, but met the full power of his calm stare, and swallowed the angry words that had been on the tip of my tongue. He stared at me for a moment, and I knew what he was trying to tell me. "Just bear with it. We'll be rid of her eventually." So I sat back down, and shoved a bite of cake into my mouth, hoping it would stop me speaking up next time Misa said something annoying, which would be the next time she spoke.

L and Light's conversation was boring. It was pointless, because, as I knew, Light had no idea he had been Kira. But L knew that he had been. I knew that he had been. We just weren't sure how to prove it yet. Something wriggled in the back of my mind, but when I tried to figure out what the annoying reminder was, I failed. The more I tried to figure out what it was, the more it slipped away, until finally it was gone, and I had to let it go.

I wasn't unduly bothered by L's claim that he was depressed. I knew it wasn't completely true. Who could be depressed at a time like this? I knew I wasn't.

"Cheer up, will ya?" Light asked. He was obviously annoyed by L's gloomy mood.

"Cheer up? No, I'm afraid that's impossible. Maybe I just need to stop trying so hard." He glanced at me as he said it, and I immediatly caught his drift.

Before I could say anything, Light was up, and out of no where, he punched L, sending him flying. Misa jumped up, crying out and backing away. I jumped up too, but moved the other way: Toward Light. Without any concious thought on the matter, I leapted toward him, swinging wildly and making contact with his jaw more by luck than by skill. The blow couldn't have hurt him much, but it did satisfy me. Until L's hands were on my shoulders, stopping me from jumping at Light again.

"Amy, please, I'll take it from here." He said.

I glanced up at him, and nodded. Whether I wanted it to or not, the fight was going to happen.

And happen it did. It only stopped when the phone rang, and L answered it. And suddenly, it was over.

"What was that?" Light asked as L dropped the phone.

"Matsuda's acting stupid again."

"Well, that is his specialty."

Knowing that Matsuda was watching and listening, and turned to the camera and waved.

"Don't worry, Matsu! I still love you!" I called, smiling. Then I turned back to the horrible date.

Much to my relief, it didn't last much longer. Misa was far too upset. She kicked us all out, claiming that she needed a nap, and so I followed L and Light out of the room. As I walked beside L, he slowly and carefully took my hand. I looked up at him, my eyes shining.

"I'm sorry it wasn't much of a first date." He apologised. "I'm afraid I'm not much good at this."

I smiled at him. "It's fine," And I meant it. "At least I got to spend time with you. And it was actually kinda nice, until you guys started fighting."

The corners of L's mouth turned down at my mention of the fight. "Speaking of that, I'm afraid I must ask you to never hit Light again."

"But!" I was outraged. "But he hit you!" That was my only argument. Anyone who hurt L deserved to be hurt back.

L's eyes shifted away from me, and he put his thumb to his mouth in that familiar way. "Be that as it may, I would appreciate it if you did not defend me like that again."

I was speechless. What was I supposed to do? Wasn't he supposed to be my boyfriend now? I continued walking with them, silent, head down, thoughts racing. I didn't do much else that day, aside from sulking, seated on the bottom of the stairs, as the men worked.

My first date with L had turned out to be a dud. But I had high hopes for the future.

My sulking came to a stop, first because I was bored, second because after everyone had gone home, or to bed, L swivveled around in his computer chair, and beckoned me to join him. I did so, slowly.

"I do appreciate how you stood up for me," He started, and I felt my spirits begin to lift. "But I think it would be best, for you and for me, if we did not make our relationship painfully obvious." Before I could ask why, he gave me his reasoning. "I am Kira's main enemy. Kira will do anything to kill me, and if it means using you, then so be it. I won't see you hurt, Amy. If Kira some-how found a way to use you against me, then I would ultimately go to my death in order to save you."

I was touched, and alarmed, by his words. I hadn't considered the full implications of my relationship with L before now. Completely randomly (I had no idea where it came from), I stepped forward, leaned down, and kissed L. I hadn't expected to be the one to make the first move. But that was how it worked out, and I instigated our first kiss. It lasted only a few seconds, and when we pulled apart, I could feel my face burning. L wasn't blushing, but he put his thumb to his mouth, gnawing on his thumbnail anxiously.

"Good night, L..." I murmured, suddenly shy of being in his presence.

"Good night, Amy..."

lilililili

Ehehehe, I always wanted to punch Light in the face. Again, I'm sorry for the length. For some reason my chapters keep getting shorter. I think it's because, honestly, I've been trying to rush through this story. Sad, but true. =/

Anyway, thanks again for reading, and keep on clicking that little review button! See ya tomorrow!


	29. Chapter 29

Away From Home

Chapter Twenty-Nine

By Andruindel

lilililili

Two months passed so happily that I could have sworn I was dreaming. Me and L grew closer. Nearly every night I stayed up with L while he worked, although usually he wasn't working on anything important. Since Light gave up the notebook, there were no more leads, and despite how happy we were in our relationship, L got more and more depressed about the case. We spent out nights talking, comparing likes and dislikes. I found out that L wasn't the kind of person to have a favorite animal, or color, or number. His only favorite, that I could see, was strawberry short cake. And, he prefered tea to coffee. I learned more about L in those two months than I had the whole time I'd been with the task force.

It wasn't until two months later that we ended up on the topic of religion.

"I don't understand how you can put such blind faith into a supposed 'god' who supposedly created the world and everything in it, and supposedly loves us all. If there were a loving creator, then there would be no evil in the world, and I would be out of a job."

"You're missing the point, L, it's not about everything being perfect. Has my life been perfect so far?"

"I suppose not, but isn't that proof that your god doesn't exist?"

I sighed, exasperated. This conversation was getting us no where. I couldn't argue with L, even with my knowledge of my own religion. His anylitical mind just wouldn't allow my arguments in. As I was pondering how best to make my next statement, L went on.

"Personally, I think it's just foolishness to believe in a god."

I was stung by that remark. "So you're calling me a fool." I ground out, giving him that look that every man who has known a woman in his life knows and fears.

L considered. "I suppose I am." He said.

I had been expecting an apology. But instead, I got that? Fuming, I stood up and stalked up the stairs to my floor. I left L where he had been, not even staring after me, but looking down at the ground, his eyes blank.

lilili

L sat silently, in his usual position, but backwards in his computer chair. It was more than an hour since Amy-chan had stormed away, upset by his comment. His sense of depression was already deep, thanks to the lack of leads in the case, but now he had his first fight with Amy to worry about. That was why he was less than inclined to listen when Light spoke up.

"Ryuuzaki, I know you're not feeling up to it, but come over here for a second."

Knowing that Light would not summon him for any stupid reason, L slowly stood up, and plodded over.

"Take a look at this. It can't be coincodence."

lilili

I sat in my room for a few hours, cuddling Panda and staring blankly at the floor. L did not come up to apologize. I hadn't really expected him to, but hey, you couldn't blame me for being hopeful. A few tears were still working their way down my cheeks as I perched on the edge of my bed. My first fight with L, and over something so stupid. Why did L have to be so stubborn?

Finally, after I felt ready to face L again, I crept out of my room, down a few flights of stairs, and toward the main work room. I paused at the top of the stairs, where I could hear without being seen. Chief Yagami and Mogi were there, which was odd, because I rarely saw Mogi. I came in right in the middle of a sentence.

"Especially if you've got a family to support." Matsuda said; everyone turned to look at Aizawa.

"If you want my opinion," L started, voicing an opinion most people probably didn't want to hear. (Okay, so I was still a bit upset about our argument earlier). "You'd be better off as police officers." Now, everyone turned to stare at L. "I was.. alone, when I started this case, and although I'm grateful to all of you for staying as long as you have, I know I can do this by myself. I'll be sure to visit you at the department and bring you Kira's head as a reward for all that you've sacrificed." I couldn't be sure, but I thought that may have been a poor attempt at humor.

Before I could rush down the stairs to remind L that he was not alone, Light spoke up. "Ryuuzaki, as long as I'm alive, you won't be working alone. You have my word on that."

"Oh, that's right. I'll have Light here with me until I catch Kira. But as I said, I think the rest of you should remain as police officers."

My heart was beginning to murmur strange things to me.

He doesn't want you to stay.

He doesn't really care about you...

He cares about Light more than he cares about you.

That last, rebellious thought was the last straw. I shoved the thoughts away, and took a few steps nearer the stairs, waiting for a moment when I could interupt the conversation going on below. I knew Matsuda was going to quit his job, because that's just how Matsuda was. He was rash at times, definitely didn't think things through thoroughly, and never seemed to think before he spoke. I saw examples of all three traits as Matsuda claimed he would keep his job, since he would feel like a loser for staying with the police. I saw Aizawa's shoulders slump. I knew exactly how he was feeling. At least, I thought I did.

I didn't get my chance to speak until after Aizawa had stormed out of the building. My heart went out to him, even though he had never really been my favorite task force member. But I could still feel anger budding in my chest when he shouted that he hated L. Instead of letting the anger grow, I squashed it down, and then, taking a deep breath, crept down the stairs. I saw Matsuda's head turn, knew that he was trying to acknowledge me, but my eyes were on L. I had no idea what I was going to say. My feet carried me across the room, until I was standing a few feet behind L. There I stood, silent, for a full thirty seconds, just staring at him. I could feel the tension in the room. L knew I was there.

Finally: "What about me...?"

L did not turn to me. "I give you the same choice I give them. You can remain here, as my girlfriend, or you can go, and we will end our relationship."

I didn't understand. "Ryuuzaki, why...?"

"I know that the thought of Kira using you against me terrifies you. If you were to leave, you would no longer have to fear that. I can't ask you to stay, if it means your constant fear of a highly unlikely situation."

"B-But, Ryuuzaki... You.. You want me to stay, don't you?"

"That doesn't matter. I leave the choice entirely up to you."

What he was saying did make a tiny bit of sense, as much as I hated to admit it. I was terrified that, after Light got his memory of the death note back, he would somehow manage to use me against L. I knew if that were to happen, L would kill himself trying to save me. He had said as much himself. But if I was to leave... I would hurt L just as much. It was selfish to leave, just to keep myself from getting into trouble. But it was selfish to stay, just so I could be near L. My emotions raged within me; one side of me leaned toward leaving, the other yearned to stay. Without realizing it, I was crying.

"L, you know I can't make this decision..."

"I refuse to make it for you."

Suddenly, I turned around, and stalked toward the door. "I need to think. I'll be back."

I closed the door behind me, struggling not to look back at L. As I left the building, I did not hear what happened behind me, in the work room.

"Matsuda," L spoke in a low, sad voice. "Please, follow her. Don't stop her, but keep an eye on her. I don't want anything happening to her."

lilililili

-teardrop- Poor Amy is so confused. I loved writing this chapter, because it's an idea I've had in my head for ever.

Thanks for reading, and don't forget to review!


	30. Chapter 30

Away From Home

Chapter Thirty

By Andruindel

lilililili

"Ryuuzaki, you've got to get here quick! Something bad has happened!"

L hung up the phone, instantly jumping to his feet. "I have to go."

Light, Mr. Yagami and Mogi stared at him, uncomprehending. "Why?" Light asked the obvious question.

L's hair concealed his face, effectively hiding his thoughts. "Amy is in the hospital."

lilili

The task force were at the hospital in no time. They found Amy's room with a bit of difficulty (no one knew her full name, and the hospital staff seemed to think it a bit suspicious that a group of men were visiting a patient who had been escorted by a man who did not know her last name). When they entered the room, Amy was sleeping. Matsuda was pacing, obviously nervous. "Oh," He turned as the door opened. "Finally, you're here."

"What happened?" L did not take his eyes from Amy's sleeping form. He approached, and sank into the chair beside her bed, folding up into his usual position.

Matsuda rushed to explain. "She was hit by a car. Thankfully, it wasn't going too fast, but still. She's pretty banged up." His guilt was obvious as it richly colored his tone. "I just wish I'd been there to save her like last time..."

Silently, the task force gathered around Amy. Out of necessity, L had removed the handcuffs, to keep from drawing attention to their group. But he insisted that Light stay with him, in the hospital room. After making sure Amy was still sleeping soundly, and getting a promise from L to stay with her, Matsuda rushed away. He said something vague about making sure Amy had something to cheer her up, but that didn't give any clues about what he was going to do.

As for L, he sat motionless in the chair, his eyes never wavering from Amy's face. She didn't look too bad. She had a cut on her forehead, and a bandage wrapped tightly around her left arm. He couldn't see any other injuries, but then again, the blanket was covering most of her. When a nurse came in, L was quick to ask how Amy was doing.

"Remarkably well. Most patients who have been hit by a car have much more damage done to them. She escaped with a few cuts and bruises. Not even any broken bones."

L sighed in relief. He had always known Amy was tough. "How long will she be asleep?"

The nurse considered for a minute. "It's hard to say. We gave her some medication for the pain, and we had to numb her up a bit so we could stitch the cut on her arm. She fell asleep as soon as we'd given her the painkiller. She'll probably wake up soon."

The nurse went away, leaving a much calmer L behind. He now knew the extent of Amy's injuries, and knew also that she was asleep as naturally as could be expected after being hopped up on painkillers. Sleep was really the best medicine, anyway.

Amy was still sound asleep when Matsuda returned, bearing a bunch of balloons, a stuffed panda, and flowers. He carefully arranged them so that Amy would see them first. Curiously, L picked up the stuffed panda. He wasn't shaped like your average teddy bear, but he was incredibely soft and fluffy. It was as L was examining the panda that Amy finally stirred.

Attracted by the motion, L leaned forward, peering into Amy's face. She stirred again, her eyelids flickered, and then she slowly opened her eyes. Comprehension was slow in coming to her gaze. When she finally seemed to remember, she glanced at once to L, her eyes sparkling. "I'm so glad you're here, Ryuuzaki." She said, grinning. She was awfully cheerful for a girl who'd just been hit by a car. "I thought about it, and I made up my mind. I don't know why it was such a hard choice for me in the first place. I could never leave you, Ryuuzaki."

(Point of view change!)

I gazed up at L, smiling, and incredibly happy. Of course, I was pretty sore, and my arm was beginning to ache again, but I knew that I'd made the right decision. I could never leave L. Not while he still didn't have the proof he needed to capture Kira. After my decleration, I was smothered by attention from Matsuda. He showed me the balloons, the flowers, and the stuffed panda. I gave the panda's name some serious thought. I already had a teddy bear named Panda, so, why not name the panda Teddy?

Even though it was nice to have Matsuda and the rest of the task force around, I was soon ready to fall asleep again. Seeing how exhausted I was, the task force crept out of the room, promising to be back the next day, when I was going to be allowed the leave. L stayed where he was. He hadn't said much; When I thought about it, I couldn't remember hearing his voice at all, all day. But now, now that the others were gone, he finally spoke.

"I am glad you're alright, Amy." He finally took his eyes from my face, glancing away. "I don't know what I would have done if you'd been badly hurt, or..." He didn't need to finish the sentence.

Carefully, I reached toward L with my uninjured arm. He took my hand, looking at me again. "I'm sorry I worried you, Ryuuzaki..." I started. "I should have been paying more attention to where I was going earlier, but I was kinda upset..."

"I shouldn't have let you out of the building."

"Ryuuzaki?"

"Yes?"

"Can.. Can I have a kiss?" I knew it was something of a long shot. We hadn't kissed since that night almost two months ago. Not that I hadn't wanted to, but because I had been waiting for L to instigate our second kiss. A slight smile quirked L's lips, and he leaned forward, pressing his lips to mine in our second kiss.

lilili

I was out of the hospital bright and early the next morning, not too much the worse for wear. Of course, my entire body ached, and my left arm was one dull throb of pain, but I was with L, I was out of the horrible hospital, and I was happy with my life once again. I had made a big decision, and I knew it was the right one, which meant I had every reason to be happy. Of course, by the time I had finished the drive home, I was incredibley sore, and impossibly grumpy.

"L?" I asked, as I struggled to get out of the car. He was swift to help me out of the car, and without my having to ask, he hefted me easily into his arms. He carried me inside, up to my floor and then into my room.

"Thank you, L," I said, as I shifted into a more comfortable position. My entire body ached.

L said nothing, but after I was comfortable, and ready to fall asleep, he left silently. I fell asleep knowing that L was somewhere nearby, and that I would never have to leave him again.

lilililili

Hey, y'all! To any readers in the good ol' US of A, Happy Independence Day! I don't expect too many reviews today, since it's a national holiday where I am, but maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised. It's funny, I remember this chapter going some-what differently back when I first thought of it. Funny how things like that change, isn't it? Anyway, thank you for reading, and please review!


	31. Chapter 31

Away From Home

Chapter Thirty-One

By Andruindel

lilililili

A day or two later, I was wonderfully recovered. My bruises were still sore to the touch, and my left arm was stiff and painful, but at least I could walk around on my own without too much pain. This was why I was down in the work room again, watching the task force work. I was bored. I had Panda and Teddy with me, to keep me company since L was so busy, but it wasn't the same. Matsuda wasn't around, he was working as Misa's manager, and they'd been gone all day, fliming some stupid movie. Groaning, I stretched. My muscles protested, but not as loudly as they had the first day out of the hospital. As I stretched, I realized something. My arm itched.

I tried to ignore the itch, but it was so itchy. Trying to keep my mind off the itch, I turned my gaze to L, watching as he did whatever it is L's do best. Actually, at the moment, he was drinking tea, after putting several spoonfuls of sugar into it. Watching him wasn't enough to distract me from the itch around my stitches. Speaking of the stitches, I thought as I surreptiously tried to scratch the itch, I was due to get them out in a few days.

"Amy-chan," L didn't even turn to look at me. "Don't scratch."

"But L," I was whining, I knew it. "It itches."

L almost never sighed in exasperation, or gave any other sign of his emotions, but I could tell, as he stood up, that he was slightly exasperated. "Here," He said as he approached me. "Let me take your mind off it..." Before I could ask how he intended to do that, he leaned down and kissed me. This kiss was different. It was still soft, still gentle, but slower. His lips lingered on mine for a long time before he finally pulled away.

"Better?"

"Mmhmm," I murmured, letting my eyes close and my head rest back on the arm of the couch.

I didn't exactly fall asleep. I was still too worried about Light, too uncomfortable around him, for that. But I did close my eyes, and let myself doze a little bit. So I was at least coherent when L decided to divulge the fact that he was, in fact, the top three detectives in the world. I smiled. That was one of my favorite facts about L that you found out in the anime. It was just so typical of L to be the top three detectives, under different names.

I giggled to myself, and Mogi glanced in my direction. Honestly, I didn't really care that I was giggling to myself over apparently nothing. I knew what was funny, and that's all that mattered. I giggled even harder when L jokingly bribed Mogi and Mr. Yagami with a strawberry, so they would 'keep it a secret, okay?'.

L hadn't been paying too much attention to me that day. It was getting late, and I was finally getting tired. I sat quietly on the couch, cuddling Panda and Teddy, while L briefed his two criminal buddies on their mission. Only when Watari's screen popped up on the computer did I realize what events were happening, right then. I jumped to my feet. "Oh no! It's Matsuda!"

A few people glanced at me, but I was intent on L. He didn't seem all that concerned. In fact, he just seemed bothered that Matsuda had ruined his plan. I stood by the couch, torn between worry for Matsuda, and slight anger at L for not caring that Matsuda was in danger. My anger at L instantly disappeared the moment he started his phone conversation with Matsuda. His switch from cold, calculating L to normal, well, just normal, was so funny, I had to laugh.

Aching, I paced forward, moving through the crowd gathered around L, until I stood beside him. I let my hand rest on his shoulder, but he didn't react. I was getting steadily more and more worried about Matsuda, but finally, L decided that there was a way to save him.

I remained by L's side as we watched. Misa had somehow convinced the entire Yotsuba group to go to her stupid little 'reception' thing, and now we could watch everything that went on. I wanted to take the phone from L when Matsuda called, and beg Matsuda to be careful, but I knew it wouldn't do any good. So I just waited for L to finish the phone call. I remembered the first time I'd watched the anime. This episode had freaked me out, because Matsuda was my favorite character, after L. But now I knew what was going on.

Right after L hung up the phone, they all rushed to get ready.

As they put the plan in motion, I stood to one side, watching. I caught L just before they all rushed away, pulling him off to the side. "Please make sure you help Matsuda," I begged him. "And please, L, please be careful."

"Of course," L promised me, and then kissed me swiftly before following the others. They had work to do, and I was left alone in, as usual, just waiting.

lilili

That time of waiting was so painful, I felt sick. I knew it was all going to work out, but I still couldn't help being worried. What if something went wrong? Wasn't my presence there proof that things could change? I was hoping for a change anyway! I couldn't let Light kill L.

Finally, everyone came back. I rushed to the door, ignoring my aching muscles, and hugged Matsuda tightly. "Please don't do anything stupid like that again, Matsuda," I pleaded with him, though my words were muffled.

"I'll try," Matsuda reassured me. I smiled up at him, and then went to greet L, feeling a little guilty that I hadn't gone to him first. He didn't seem to mind. He was already sitting at his computer. I came up behind him, wrapping my arms around his neck from behind.

"I'm glad you're safe, Ryuuzaki," I murmured in his ear.

"Me too..."

lilililili

Ehehehe, L is so funny. I always found this episode the most stressful, even when I knew what was going on. The only other episode I stressed out about more is the one where a certain someone is shot thirteen times. ;-; Anywayz... Thanks for reading, and don't forget to hit that review button!


	32. Chapter 32

Away From Home

Chapter Thirty-Two

By Andruindel

lilililili

A week after Matsuda's little escaped, I was mostly recovered. I still had a few faint bruises, but the stitches had been removed, and the cut on my forehead was little more than a vivid scar now. It wasn't the most attractive, obviously, but I had to be thankful it wasn't any bigger, or any nearer my eyes.

The investigation had been going strong all week. I'd barely gotten any time alone with L, not that I ever really got time alone with L. It was a bit of a stretch on our relationship, always having Light, and because of Light Misa, near us. My nerves couldn't handle it, at any rate. Misa's voice and Light's, well just Light, combined into a lethal combination of annoying, terrifying, and just plain infuriating. The worst part of it was, time was running out. I only had a short amount of time before Light became Kira again. And that meant...

I needed to start thinking, hard, about saving L.

So, a week after Matsuda's run in with Yotsuba, I was in my room, lying on my bed and staring up at the ceiling. I was trying to find a solution to my problem. Nothing seemed to work. I could just outright tell L what was going on. But that would make me sound crazy. I quickly metaphorically threw that idea out and began work on another.

Maybe I could go with L when they caught the Yotsuba Kira, and then stop Light from ever touching the death note? That would be a little ridiculous.

I could go with them and then stop Light from killing the 'Kira', and somehow get his watch away from him...

A knock on my door interrupted my thoughts and I sat up, realizing that I must have fallen asleep somehow. I glanced at my clock, and it was just about nine at night. "Come in," I called, yawning. I didn't know how I'd managed to fall asleep, but since I had, I knew I wouldn't be going to bed any time soon.

My door opened, and L stepped inside. He left the door partially open, and I knew Light must be lurking in the hallway somewhere. "Hey," I hadn't been expecting L. I clambered from my bed to the floor, and then approached L. He welcomed me with a hug, wrapping me up in a warm, soft, L hug. L's hugs, when he gave them, were even better than Matsuda's hugs. I pressed my face against his chest, breathing in the soft smell that always lingered on his clothes and skin. It was the scent of L, and to me, it meant safety.

"I haven't seen you all day, Amy-chan." He said as he pulled away from the hug.

I smiled up at him. "I've been busy thinking all day." I replied lightly. Suddenly, my stomach rumbled, loudly enough for L to hear. I giggled, putting a hand to my stomach. "I must have forgotten to eat dinner or something," I explained.

L took my hand, pulling me through the door and down the hallway. "That's not good. Let's see if we have any cake."

I smiled to myself, not bothering to remind L that cake wasn't neccessarily the best substitute for a missed dinner. As we walked toward the huge kitchen, I tried to ignore Light, who was trailing behind us, but it was difficult. My thoughts were still focused mainly around the problem of how to stop Light from killing L. Something I'd thought earlier.. something about his watch? It struck me that the answer lay there. I was just too half asleep to figure it out, even though it was literally right there in my mind.

I decided to let the matter drop, for now, so I could enjoy some quality time with L. I did end up finding food, but after eating a sandwhich, L convinced me to eat some cake, too. So, I did. I even managed to forget Light was there. Almost.

After eating, we went back up to my floor, and settled down in the sitting room of sorts that I had. We sat down on one of the couches, while Light reclined on the other, and since Light looked ready to fall asleep, I didn't mind his presence. Instead of freaking out about Light, I snuggled close to L, loving how warm he was.

"I'm sorry I've been so busy lately,"

I glanced up at L. He wasn't looking at me, but that wasn't anything unusual. "You don't have to apologize. I knew what I was getting myself into when I agreed to try and make a relationship work. I knew you'd be busy a lot, especially with stupid Kira running around. And I know that even after you catch Kira, you'll be busy with your other cases."

"When I catch Kira?"

"Yes, when." I sat up, turning to gaze earnestly at L. "I know you've been feeling a little depressed lately about Light not being Kira." (Actually, it had been months ago that he'd admited that, but I had a feeling he was still bothered by it.) "But, we both know that you can catch him. He must be acting or..."

"Or, he passed his power on, and forgot he was ever Kira."

"That's very possible too, L." I stared at him, trying to convey just how possible that fact was. "Hey," I adopted a thoughtful tone. "Let's say, just for a minute, that Light was Kira, but he passed his power on to someone else, and now he's just waiting for all suspicions to be cleared before becoming Kira again."

"Thanks a lot," Light murmured from where he lay on the opposite side of the room.

I glanced at him, frowning. "Shut up, Light. Go to sleep or something." He looked like he was already practically asleep. Ignoring Light again, I turned back to L. "If he was just waiting for all suspicions to be cleared, then how would he get his power back?"

L considered my question for a long time. "I... I don't know." He said finally.

I hadn't meant to discourage him, but somehow, I think that's what I managed to do.

Quickly, I snuggled back against him. "Let's not think about that now, L."

"Agreed..." He murmured, slowly letting his arm travel around my shoulders.

lilili

I woke up later than usual the next morning, clueless as to my location. As I went to sit up, I realized I was leaning against someone, and their arm was around me. That was when I remembered that I'd fallen asleep on the couch with L. "L?" I sat up, feeling his arm relax around my shoulders to allow me free movement. I looked up at him, and he didn't look like he'd gotten any sleep. "L, were you awake all night?"

He nodded.

I leaned against him again, letting my forehead rest against his. "You could have woken me," I murmured. I was still half asleep.

"It wouldn't have done any good. Light was asleep, too. Besides... I was comfortable."

I smiled. "Well, we can fix that." I stood up, moved the few paces to the other couch, picked up a pillow, and whacked Light with it as hard as I could. He was awake instantly, thrashing violently as he tried to figure out what was going on. When he turned over, defenses obviously up, and saw me standing over him with a pillow, comprehension dawned in his eyes. "What was that for?" He cried.

Shrugging, I turned away from him. "Ryuuzaki is sick of waiting around while you sleep." Then, ignoring Light, I hugged L, and then moved toward the door. "I'm gonna go shower. You should go eat breakfast or something."

lilili

I was just finished getting dressed when my door burst open. I turned, smiling, expecting L, or at least Matsuda. Instead, I found myself faced by the most annoying, most infuriating, second most hated person in the world: Misa. She had an impish smile on her face as she stood looking at me.

"Guess what I did last night," She quipped, though it was in a completely different tone. I had no idea what Misa wanted. I hated her, and I knew she disliked me.

"Whatever it was, I highly doubt I care." I replied, turning back to my mirror so I could fix my hair.

Misa's smile took on a more malicious hint. "Oh, I think it will. I kissed L last night, and he said he could actually fall for me!"

My mind went blank. I'd heard what she'd said, but for the moment, I ignored it. Or I seemed to. "That's nice." I wasn't aware of thinking about what to say. I fixed my hair, stood up, and left my room, ignoring Misa completely. I was going to have a very serious talk with L, Kira investigation or no Kira investigation.

When I reached the top of the staircase to the workroom, I suddenly became unsure of myself. I didn't want to march down there and cause a scene, but I really needed to talk to L. So, I crept halfway down the stairs, found Matsuda, made eyecontact, and indicated L. He understood, and went to tell L that apparently I wanted to talk to him. I crept back up the stairs, and waited.

"Amy-chan?" L looked a little worried as he climbed the stairs. "What's the matter?"

"I.. I need to talk to you, about something Misa said." I couldn't look at L. I felt guilty for believing Misa, but at the same time, I had to find out if what she'd said was true. "She... She said she kissed you last night."

"She did."

"L!" My voice rose, surprising even me. "How could you...?"

Suddenly, I found myself enveloped in a tight hug. "She kissed my cheek, and in case she told you what I said, let me explain that, too. I needed her cooperation, and that wasn't going to happen if I upset her. I'm sorry."

I remained in L's arms for a long time, breathing in his scent and considering. In the anime he'd always seemed to sincere about his likely-hood to actually fall for Misa. But.. that must have changed when I came along. "Okay," I mumbled. "Just don't let her kiss you again if you can help it." This Kira investigation was getting ridiculous.

lilililili

Reader: I am deeply sorrow for the rushed quality of these last chapters. Honestly, I was rushing them. My boyfriend doesn't quite approve of my fangirl fan fiction (which is totally fine with me) so I really just wanted to finish the story and get it over with, so he wouldn't have to stress about my fangirl tendencies. ^^; Thank you for understanding, and for reading.


	33. Chapter 33

Away From Home

Chapter Thirty-Three

By Andruindel

lilililili

Things in the Kira investigation were getting ridiculous. L had his con-man cooworker posing as the greatest detective in the world (Or one of L's other identities), he had Misa working with him and Yotsuba in order to figure out who Kira was, and now he was 'directing' Misa's 'performance'. I stood just behind L, my arms folded, watching.

Misa was over-acting horribly,

"I thought that was a realistic performance." Misa pouted.

"Do it again."

"Whatever you say, oh so great director." Misa continued pouting.

"If you don't get serious about this," L informed her quietly. "I'll kick you."

I perked up at that. "Can I do it for you, Ryuuzaki?" I asked, innocently enough. He turned to look at me, the shadow of a smile touching his lips. I smiled at him, not expecting a reply, and he didn't deign to give me one, but I did get a glare from Misa. I'd never had an arch enemy before, and it was really amusing to antagonize Misa.

lilili

Once Misa left, there was little to do. I couldn't tease Light; he refused to rise to the occassion. Not only was I bored, but the rest of the task force had little to do as well. The only upside to the day was that I got to spend a lot of time with L. I pulled up a chair and sat beside him, wrapping my arms around his neck while he worked. He took very little notice of me, but the light kisses I kept pressing to his neck and cheek must have been distracting him. That was what I was aiming for, any way.

By the time Misa came back, I'd given up trying to distract L. Nothing I did got any reaction from him. In fact, the only time he acknowledged me was when he asked if I'd get him another cup of tea. Pleased to be doing something some-what useful, I did so, and then when I came back, Misa was there. I lurked, waiting for Misa to leave.

"Hey, Light!" She called, just before she finally disappeared. "Do you wanna come sleep with me tonight?"

I could hear Light's intake of breath, and feel the sudden tension in the air.

"Just kidding! You're saving it for after we catch Kira, right? No need to be so shy about it!" And with that, Misa left, leaving an awkward tension in the air.

I approached L, bearing his cup of tea, and just in time to hear his comment. "Yes, Light, no need to be shy."

"Yeah, Light," I quipped, setting down the tea and then throwing an arm around L's shoulders. "Me and Ryuuzaki aren't shy about it." I gave him a pointed look, and then kissed L's cheek. I couldn't believe it when I met L's eyes a moment later. He was blushing! He'd adopted that characteristic position, the one where he hunched his shoulders and let his hair cover his eyes, but I could tell.

I'd finally succeeded in making L blush! It was an epic achievment.

lilili

That night, L went to bed early. I'd always been curious how he and Light had made sleeping arrangements, so I followed them. I wasn't tired, and I knew L wouldn't be going to sleep any time soon. To my relief, there was no scandalous sharing of a bed. They each had a seperate bed, they were just close enough to allow for the handcuffs. So far, I'd remained silent; I knew L knew that I'd followed them, but he hadn't given any indication that he minded, or didn't mind.

"Does she have to be here?" Light asked, seeming to realize I was there just before he dropped his pants.

I blushed, immediatly turning around to leave. Before I could, L caught my hand, and I turned slightly, wondering what he wanted. "Don't go anywhere, please." I nodded, and then I waited outside while Light changed into pajamas. After only a minute or so, the door opened again, and L ushered me inside. I glanced at Light, and saw a familiar mischevious smile on his face.

"You two had better not keep me up," He said as he climbed into his bed. I blushed, looking at L from the corner of my eye as I followed him to his own bed, where I perched on the edge.

"We'll do our best to be quiet." L replied, and I stared at him. Had he been going along with Light's teasing, or was he really just that naive? I watched him, trying to figure out which one it was. He didn't look at me at first, until a moment later, he finally lifted his eyes and met my gaze. There was a question in his eyes, and I smiled.

"I can't decide whether or not you were joking just now," I told him, tilting my head slightly. I sent a hurried glance in Light's direction, and then decided that I'd better keep my voice down.

L's lips quirked upward. "I don't know what you mean." He replied.

I smiled quietly at him, and said nothing. We sat quietly for a while, just watching each other. After a minute, I leaned forward. "Have you been thinking about the possibility that Light is Kira, and he's just waiting for you to stop being suspicious?"

"Of course..."

"Make sure you tell if me anything weird happens any time soon, alright?" I stared seriously at him, gnawing my bottom lip nervously.

L stared back at me. "I will." He replied. "Since when are you so interested in the case?"

"I just want to help is all." I shrugged. "And I want you to get proof that Light's Kira."

L took my hand. "I've been trying." He sighed.

From the other bed, Light spoke up. "I'd appreciate it if you didn't discuss whether or not I'm Kira right now." His voice was muffled and sleepy.

"I guess that's my cue to go to bed," I stood up, leaned down to kiss L, and then left the room.

I was thinking hard again, about how to catch Light. A plan was beginning to take form. And it was one I thought actually had a chance of working.

lilililili

About my last author's note.

I didn't mean to give anyone the wrong idea. Me and my boyfriend are extremely happy together, and not having troubles at all! We both simply agree that writing girly fan fiction isn't the best pass-time for a taken person. So, the only reason I'm finishing this story is for you guys. I felt bad just ditching all my readers for more than a year. Thank you for your concern, though. ^^; And thanks for reading!


	34. Chapter 34

Away From Home

Chapter Thirty-Four

By Andruindel

Warning: This chapter contains spoilers, for anyone who has not watched the entire anime. Don't blame me if you find out about a death you didn't know about.

lilililili

I was very annoyed. Misa seemed to get away with anything. When Matsuda pulled a crazy stunt, and ended up in trouble with Yotsuba, everyone got mad at him. But when Misa put herself in danger, everyone was happy and priased her. I sat on the couch, watching as the group talked.

I wanted very much to be near L, but moving to L's side would require getting close to Light and Misa. I could handle them when they were alone, but having both of them near me was overwhelming, especially now that I was reletively certain Misa knew she was the second Kira again. So, I just lurked on the couch, waiting for a chance to talk to L.

I watched, silent, as L spoke his thoughts aloud.

I wasn't all that interested, until they began talking about putting Matsuda on the program they planned to use to catch the Yotsuda Kira. I felt so out of the loop. Now that I knew there was only a certain amount of time before Light tried to kill L, that had taken first priority in my thoughts, and nothing else seemed to matter. I stood up, taking several steps toward Matsuda, listening as L explained his idea.

"Wow!" Misa exclaimed. "Sounds exciting!"

"No," I muttered, just loud enough for myself and Matsuda to hear. "Sounds dangerous..." I looked up at Matsuda, wondering what he thought of the whole thing. He always seemed to be picked for the most unpleasant jobs: being Misa's manager, and now this.

I linked arms with Matsuda, willing him to be brave, and willing myself to stop shaking. So many people were in danger. Ukita had already died for the cause. Now Matsuda was going to be put in danger, again. I could feel my entire body shaking, though I wasn't entirely sure why. Everyone around me was in danger. L was going to die. Chief Yagami was going to die. Matsuda was going to have to shoot Light, whom he was obviously very fond of. Even Light and Misa ended up dead...

Still shaking, I took a deep breath. I needed to get a grip before I started panicking.

Matsuda walked forward a few steps, and I had to let go of his arm, or be dragged along. Once he was not at my side any more, I felt surprisingly alone, and vulnerable. I needed to do something, quickly, and prevent any more deaths.

lilili

"Spoiled brat!"

"Bitch!"

"Knucklehead!"

"Whore!"

"Dumb ass!"

"Kiss ass!"

I backed down, stung by Misa's last insult. Since she'd returned from her little mission 'figuring out who Kira is' earlier, we'd been at each other's throats. I could have explained why, if I'd tried hard enough, but I didn't feel like trying, so we just argued, exchanging insults. I couldn't remember what had started our fight. But I did know that her last insult had hit a nerve, not that I was going to let Misa know that.

"Kira lover," I spat at her, and then I turned my back and stalked away, toward L.

Said dark-haired detective was sitting in his computer chair, his head resting on his knees, and his hands over his ears.

"Ryuuzaki?" I put a hand on his shoulder, peering into his face. "What's the matter?"

"He's waiting for you and Misa to stop your cat fight." Light responded from where he sat in his own computer chair. He glared at me, his arms folded, obviously in a defensive position. "I wish you wouldn't treat her like that. She can't help being annoying."

It was my turn to go on the defensive. "She started it." I claimed. "Besides, I wasn't the one who kissed her boyfriend." I was still upset about that, though this was the first time I'd mentioned it since it had happened. "And anyway, that wasn't a cat fight. It was the most recent battle out of our little, personal war." With a huff, I turned my attention away from Light, and back onto L. He was focused on the computer screen, now apparently a little more at east.

Misa's insult was still hurting, lurking in the back of my mind and developing into doubt. In school, I'd always been teased for being a teacher's pet, and an over achiever. Some people had even called me a suck up, and, as much as I hated to admit it, I kind of was. It was just in my nature to suck up to people, not because it was for any specific reason, I just did it.

"If it's any consolation," L's fingers threaded through mine. "I don't think you're a kiss ass."

It was like he'd known what I was thinking. I smiled, and kissed his forehead. "Thanks. I'm gonna go upstairs."

I had some very serious thinking to do. My plan was still only half formed, and it required much more thought.

lilili

Three days passed, and with each passing day, I got more and more frustrated. My plan would not work, unless everything happened exactly like it had in the anime. If anything changed, then all was lost. My entire plan hinged on Rem. Rem, and Light's watch. Try as I might, I could not come up with a new idea. This plan would just have to work. On the third day, I pushed every thought of my plan out of my head, and focused on Matsuda. It was obvious that he was nervous, but he was trying his best not to show it. I was only a little nervous. He wasn't in too much danger, since he had been all right in the anime. Still... I was worried for him.

I was to stay behind with Misa while everyone else worked on catching 'Kira'. L and Light were still in the building during the broadcast. It wouldn't be until 'Kira' made a move that they finally left, leaving me and Misa alone together. Until then, they watched the screen, listening as 'Kira' tried his best to find out Matsuda's real name. I wasn't all that interested in what was going on. The only thing I was interested in was whether or not L would understand that Light's scream, just after touching the death note, was the something strange I'd warned him about. He needed to know that Light was Kira, and had gotten his powers back. That was the only thing that had me worried.

But, tonight was a key part in my plan, too. I seemed to remember Near having a similiar idea, using Light's hidden piece of death note against him, but now, I was going to be the one doing it. I was going to save L, or die trying.

lilililili

I'm pretty sure this is the third to last chapter. If my memory serves me, there are only thirty-six chapters in this story, which means we're almost done. =O Thanks for reading, guys, and thanks for all the awesome reviews I've been getting. Keep 'em comin'. =D


	35. Chapter 35

Away From Home

Chapter Thirty-Five

By Andruindel

lilililili

It was a long time before L and Light finally left. I was less than interested in the happenings of the moment. Matsuda was safe, I knew that much from listening to what was going on, sort of. I was more absorbed by my pacing than I was by the events. I seemed to remember the episode being much more suspenseful, even when I'd watched it more than once. My disinterest must have had something to do with my concern for L's safety.

When L and Light left, they left Misa tied to a chair. I was too preoccupied with my own thoughts to notice what they were doing, even when L kissed my forehead before his departure. I was so happy with L, and I knew (at least I hoped) that he was happy with me, too. Light had no right to kill L, and ruin our happiness. He was insane. He ruined so many people's lives; his actions resulted in his own father's death, for crying out loud! I needed to stop him. Soon.

My plan could not work until after tonight. But if I waited too long, then it would be too late. L would die. I couldn't let that happen. Tears came to my eyes at the very thought.

"Why are you crying?" Misa demanded. "I'm the one tied up."

I spun around, confronting her for the first time. With no one else around, I felt safe enough to do so. "Because L is going to die, that's why. L is going to die unless I can do something about it."

She stared at me with wide eyes. I had no idea if she knew what I was talking about, but if she did, then I was potentially in danger. If I got Light arrested... No, she wouldn't have the death note by then, and they would obviously search thoroughly to make sure she didn't have any pages of it, either. If I could stop L's death, and prove once and for all that Light was Kira, then everything would end. L wouldn't die. Mello, Near and Matt would never have to step up and fill L's place in the investigation. Even though they weren't main characters, Mello and Matt were a few of my favorite characters. I almost regretted having not been able to meet them. But I would gladly never meet them, because that would mean L had never died.

After staring at Misa for a long minute, I resumed my pacing. It was only a matter of time before L returned, with Kira.

I needed to prepare myself. I couldn't let anyone know that I knew what was going on.

lilili

Eventually, I retired to the couch, only out of exhaustion. I was still restless. The instant I heard the door open, I jumped to my feet and rushed forward. I met L in a wild embrace, an embrace that spoke more than I would have dared to speak aloud. I hugged him tightly, and I never wanted to let him go. Tears stung my eyes again, but I swallowed hard, pushing them back. I couldn't let L know.

"Amy-chan, I'm fine."

"I know." I replied, but I didn't let him go. "Everything worked fine?"

"Yes. But there is something... something very different happening. Look." He produced the death note, and held it out to me. "Shinigami actually exist. If you touch this book, you can see one."

I looked at him, trying my best to look as though I didn't quite believe him. But I touched the death note, noticing as I did so that my hands were shaking badly. I needed to touch it, so I could see Rem. Otherwise, all would be lost. My eyes fell closed as I touched the book, lightly, with the tips of my fingers. And then, slowly, I opened them, glancing around. Rem was exactly as I remembered her from the anime: Tall, dwarfing everyone; terrifying, but at the same time, sad. I stared, knowing that, despite everything everyone said, I could never consider Rem L's killer.

"Sh-shinigami..." I whispered, still staring.

A hand rested on my shoulder, and, thinking it was L, I turned. And I found myself staring up at Kira. The shock, the terror, hit me like a ton of bricks, and I jumped, stumbling away from him. Wide-eyed, I stared, not caring that everyone was staring at me.

"Sorry, did I startle you?" Kira made his tone light and playful.

I swallowed once, striving to find my voice. "I.. Yeah, you just startled me." I immediatly turned my gaze away and fled to L's side, linking arms with him in an effort to find some comfort. I couldn't get very far away from Kira, but just being beside L helped calm me down somewhat.

Surprising me, L leaned down to whisper in my ear. His warm breath tickled as it stirred my hair; at first, I was far too distracted by how close he was to understand what he was saying. "Do you see it too...?" He whispered, just loud enough for me to hear.

Knowing that he wished our conversation to be kept secret, I giggled as I turned my head to whisper into his ear in return. "Of course I see it."

Again, L whispered in my ear. I tried my best to blush and look like we were whispering typical couple things. "Please do not mention it. Do your best to pretend you do not know. We are both in great danger..."

I nodded, forcing myself to smile before I leaned in to kiss him. "I think I'd probably better get to bed," I announced. Before I could escape, L latched onto my wrist, keeping me by his side. I looked at him, meeting his dark, serious gaze.

He stared at me for a long time, long enough for me to get lost in his eyes, and then he spoke three, low words. "I love you."

It was a whisper, barely loud enough for me to hear. But he had said it.

I didn't have to pretend to blush as I responded. "I love you too."

And then he had released me, and I fled to my room. My emotions were finally getting the best of me. If I didn't act soon, I would lose L forever.

lilililili


	36. Chapter 36

Away From Home

Chapter Thirty-Six

By Andruindel

lilililili

I had always believed farewells were sad, but Matsuda's farewell to Misa was just pathetic. I'd always known Matsuda was a moron, but.. well... I'd never known to what extent.

I, on the other hand, was absolutely exstatic to not have to deal with Misa any more. On the one hand, I was completely free from Misa's irritations, and L and Light were no longer hand cuffed together (I was currently taking much advantage of that fact). On the other hand, I knew I only had a matter of.. well... days. My stress level was rising drastically; I could tell, and I'm sure the others could tell. I needed to keep my eyes open for the day everything went down, and my life either took a turn for the better, or completely crashed and burned. The stress was going to kill me if it didn't come soon.

That was why I was trying to distract myself by trying to distract L. Ever since he'd taken off the handcuffs, I'd taken advantage of every minute I could get to keep L to myself. However much I liked our little minutes of alone time, I knew L had more important things on his mind. But he didn't protest when I did manage to get him alone for a minute or so. He had to be enjoying it as much as I was, our little game of 'dodge the task force'.

It wasn't until that night that L made any comment on my behavior.

"You've been oddly.. affectionate today, Amy-chan." He remarked as we sat together on one of the couches.

I smiled to myself. "I know." I replied, hoping to leave it at that.

"Why?"

He wasn't going to just let the matter drop. I considered for a moment. "I guess..." I wasn't sure how much I could say. "I guess I feel like... like we may not have that much time together."

L pulled me close. I buried my face in his chest, willing the emotions to rest for just a while more. In a few days, everything would be over, for better or worse.

lilili

L hadn't let on at all that he knew his death was approaching. I had tried my best not to either. And we spent the next day or so in complete bliss. Or, we seemed to. Our game of 'dodge the task force' continued, and we annoyed everyone with our couple behavior. I loved every minute of it, but the thought that, in a few days L could die, kept struggling to make it to the front of my mind, and it was distracting.

A few days later, I was afraid to leave my room. It had been raining hard all day, and I knew what that meant. And I was terrified. But more than that, I was ashamed, and angry. It seems, when it came down to it, I was a coward after all. I'd frozen, and it took me hours to find the courage to get out of bed and get dressed, and then another few hours to find the courage to leave my room. I dreaded what was to come; what I had to do. My heart was beating, adrenaline was pumping through my veins. But my mind was blank. There was nothing left to think about. There was only action.

As I left my room, my only thought was the find out where L was. I rushed to the work room, and without bothering to descend the stairs, called down to the task force. "Where's Ryuuzaki?"

"I don't know!" Matsuda answered. "I think he's up on the roof."

My heart jumped into my throat. I only had a short amount of time left! Without answering any of Matsuda's enquiries, I dashed away. I had to find Rem. She was no doubt wandering about the building, searching for a place to hide while she wrote L's name. My pulse was racing as I ran; adrenaline surged through my veins, heightening my sense of urgency. I needed to find Rem. I had to!

As panic welled up in my chest, I turned a corner sharply, and then slid to a stop. I had finally found Rem.

"Shinigami!" I called; my voice was much more forceful than I'd intended, but it worked.

She turned, her gaze as curious as it could be. "Listen to me, Rem. You don't have to kill Ryuuzaki."

"How do you..."

I cut her off. I needed to hurry and get my point across. My heart was still thumping madly behind my ribs, threatning to choke me with its wild attempts at escape. "I know a lot of things, about Shinigami and the death note. I know your name. I know the rule about not using the death note for thirteen days is fake. I even know that Light is Kira, and he made Misa start killing people just so you would feel the need to kill Ryuuzaki. Don't ask me how I know. The fact that I do know is enough."

Rem remained silent, but I had her attention. I took a deep breath, trying to steady my breathing, and my heart rate. "Listen to me, Rem. You don't have to kill Ryuuzaki. It is not his fault Misa is in danger. It's Lights. If you give me time, I can prove that Light is Kira, and convince the task force that Misa was just under Kira's power."

"How can you do this?"

"I have proof." I answered vaguely. "Just give me the time to try, and I promise you, I will save Misa from punishment."

"If you fail, I will kill you too." I saw her eyes rest just above my head, where I knew my name and life-span hovered, plain for her to see. I gulped, feeling sweat trickle down my neck and back. My mind went blank, except for thoughts of L.

"So be it."

"You would give your life for him?" Rem asked.

"Surely you can understand, Rem." I answered wryly. "But if anything happens to Misa after Light is put to death, then you can't blame me, or Ryuuzaki, understand?"

"Yes."

My heart felt as though it were skipping beats. I had convinced Rem. It had been easier than I'd thought. Now, there was just one last thing to do. I needed to convince L and the others that Light was Kira. It was going to be difficult. But I had time, now that Rem was on my side.

lilili

Everyone was in the work room when I arrived, walking unaccompanied down the stairs. Rem lurked at the top of the stairs, no doubt waiting with her death note to kill L if my plan did not work. Surprisingly, I was calm. I knew now that no matter what happened, I would be happy. If I failed, I would die alongside L. If I succeeded, Kira would be stopped.

"Ryuuzaki, Mr. Yagami, everyone." I spoke loudly and firmly, and my words immediatly caught everyone's attention. I remained where I was at the foot of the stairs, staring at the group. They stared back, curious. With no preliminaries, I took a step forward, lifting an arm to point accusingly at Light. "That man you call coworker, son, and friend, is Kira."

The room erupted into noise as the task force bore down on me en masse. Everyone was shouting. Mr. Yagami looked ready to explode with rage. Confused by the noise, I backed away, struggling to discern each sentence from the next. It was impossible.

"Silence!" L was the one to finally silence the storm of noise. He remained where he was, standing beside his computer chair, watching me closely. "Please, let her explain."

"Yes." Mr. Yagami glared at me. "Do you have any proof?"

"Light's wearing the proof." I glanced at Light. My heart was in my throat, threatening to choke me, but I needed to get the words out. "There's a scrap of the notebook in his watch. It's hidden, but he used it to write Higuchi's name and kill him. It should still be in his watch."

The task force turned to Light. I could tell that he was thinking furiously. He hadn't taken into account the fact that I might know about his watch.

"Well, Light?" L prompted him.

"Ryuuzaki, this is insane! You're going to listen..."

"Light!" L snapped. "Show us your watch."

That was when I saw it. I saw that Light had given up hope. He moved as though to reveal the hidden scrap of death note, but at the last minute, I knew what his intention was. He was going to write someone's name. "Stop him!" I screamed as he pressed the needle into his finger to draw blood. "Don't let him write anything!"

Instantly, action broke out. Light was tackled by at least three people, to stop him writing any names down. He was handcuffed, screaming his innocence, and finally, he was led away. I sank down onto the bottom step, my mind blank, my heart rate finally slowing. I stared at the floor as activity went on around me. I didn't look up until L stood before me.

"How did you know?"

I needed an exscuse. "Rem told me. She was going to kill you, until I told her that catching Kira would protect Misa more than killing you. Misa wasn't murduring people because she wanted to. She's under Kira's power. But, you need to make sure she doesn't have any pages of the death note. Kira might still be controlling her." The words poured out of my mouth easily, even the lies. L could never know that I knew everything about the case because I'd watched it as an anime in a whole different world. It was just too weird.

"You're lucky Light didn't know your full name..." L whispered, pulling me to my feet and into his arms.

The dam I'd constructed to keep back the flow of emotions finally broke, and I broke into sobs. Everything was going to be okay. Kira was caught, once Misa found out about his death sentence, she would kill herself, and Rem and Ryuk would both leave. L was okay. He was fine. I'd managed to save him.

"I love you, L." I whispered through the sobs.

"I love you too."

Once, I'd ridden home from school, reading the manga of the story I'd just lived through. That day seemed so long ago, more like a dream than a real experience. The day I'd run into the street after a cat was the day my whole life had changed. But it had changed for the better. And I knew, as I rested, still sobbing, in L's arms, that I never wanted to go back to my old life. I wanted to stay here, living a life with L as he continued his work as the best three detectives in the world.

And now, I was going to be able to.

lilililili

There you have it. The end.

Thank you very much, dearest readers, for all the reviews, and for reading my story. Special thanks go to the readers who have been with me from the beginning and who didn't give up on me dyring the year I was inactive.


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